Israeli occupation forces have declared the Ain Deir Baha neighborhood in al-Khalil, south of the occupied West Bank, a closed military zone as troops carried out violent raids and detained several young Palestinians, according to local media.
The designation came as a wide-scale Israeli military offensive in al-Khalil entered its eighth consecutive day, forcibly displacing thousands of civilians, detaining dozens of Palestinians, and demolishing homes, commercial properties, and infrastructure.
Anadolu Agency, quoting witnesses, reported that Israeli military vehicles stormed the neighborhood and announced over loudspeakers that the area had been designated a closed military zone, prohibiting residents from entering or moving freely within it.
Videos circulated by local media outlets showed Israeli troops deployed throughout the neighborhood, warning residents that remaining in the area had become dangerous.
Other footage shared on social media, including by the Quds News Network, showed Israeli soldiers detaining a group of Palestinians who were forced to place their hands on their heads before being escorted under heavy guard to an unknown location.
The Israeli occupation army launched its offensive in al-Khalil on October 23 following an operation by two Palestinians that killed two Israeli soldiers and injured three others near a checkpoint. The army later killed the two Palestinians.
Since then, Israeli forces have imposed a comprehensive military closure on al-Khalil and surrounding villages, seizing Palestinian homes in the Jalda and Ain Deir Baha neighborhoods and converting them into military barracks, with Israeli flags raised above them, Anadolu reported.
The al-Khalil Municipality said Tuesday that 4,969 Palestinians from 780 families had been forcibly displaced by the Israeli military.
During the first days of the offensive, Israeli forces forcibly displaced residents, demolished homes and commercial establishments, and destroyed vital infrastructure.
The Palestinian Prisoners Club said Israeli forces detained 110 Palestinians in the al-Khalil governorate between Friday and Wednesday.
UN warns of 'ethnic cleansing'
The escalating Israeli aggression has drawn sharp condemnation from the United Nations, which warned that the operation raises grave concerns of "ethnic cleansing" and constitutes collective punishment in violation of international law.
UN rights chief Volker Turk said the Israeli regime's "aggressive operation" has already resulted in the forcible displacement of thousands of Palestinians, adding that it has "demolished homes and commercial property, and deprived residents of the ability to move freely."
"The sweeping steps taken raise grave concerns of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force—which must end," Turk said.
He warned that declarations by senior Israeli officials indicate that the measures implemented are punitive in nature and designed to instill fear. "This is unacceptable."
Turk stressed that collective punishment is a grave violation of international law and warned that "threats to empty and erase entire neighborhoods also raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing."
Speaking earlier in Cairo, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was deeply alarmed by Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank, noting that "evictions are unrelenting with Palestinians driven from their lands" and that settler violence is surging.
"We are seeing an increasingly coercive environment, with the specter of ethnic cleansing looming ever larger. This must end," Guterres said, adding that there could be no durable peace in West Asia "without the realization of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination."
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website