The United Nations leadership has sounded a severe alarm over sweeping military operations conducted by the Israeli regime in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, which resulted in the displacement of hundreds of families over the weekend. Top UN officials issued sharp criticisms on Monday regarding the widening measures.

The developments followed a deadly shootout on Friday that allegedly left two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian gunmen dead, along with three wounded soldiers. In response to the incident, Israeli regime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to demolish buildings in Hebron and implement severe movement restrictions across the West Bank ahead of the upcoming general election.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated via social media that settlements continue to expand while evictions of Palestinians remain unrelenting. He claimed that the situation is fostering an increasingly coercive environment where the specter of ethnic cleansing looms large.

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk condemned the aggressive operations, asserting that they have caused the forcible displacement of thousands of residents, destroyed homes, and stripped individuals of basic freedoms. He emphasized that collective punishment constitutes a grave violation of international law.

In reaction, the Israeli Foreign Ministry firmly rejected a newly released UN report accusing the state of war crimes, dismissing the findings as a politically motivated propaganda document detached from reality. As Israeli troops pushed deeper into the Deir Baha neighborhood with demolition and search orders, local municipal officials reported that over 3,000 people have been instructed to evacuate.

Source: www.dw.com