Hebron municipality says 3,189 residents have left homes during Israeli operation

Hebron’s municipality says 3,189 Palestinians from 491 families have left their homes in Deir Bahha and Al-Jalda since Israel began a military operation on Friday. The Monday tally, reported by Anadolu Agency from a municipal statement, includes 209 infants.

Israel began searches and demolitions around Hebron after two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers near the occupied West Bank city on 23 October. The Israeli military said three more soldiers were injured and both gunmen were killed. It said residents could leave the operation area through three designated points after screening. Roads into Hebron were also closed to vehicles, according to reports by the Associated Press and the Guardian.

Residents and the military give different accounts of the departures. The military told the Guardian that civilians who wanted to leave were permitted to do so temporarily. Abdul Halim al-Tamimi, 77, told the paper his family was given 10 minutes to leave its home. Another family went to relatives elsewhere in Hebron: leaving a home in the city did not necessarily mean leaving Hebron.

Municipal figures given to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed and reported by the Palestinian news agency WAFA on Monday were slightly lower: 3,171 people in 488 families. The reason for the difference is unclear. Defence minister Israel Katz had put the number at about 2,000 on Saturday, but his estimate concerned one neighbourhood, not the two covered by Monday’s tally.

Katz said those who had left that neighbourhood would not be allowed back until Israel had dealt with what he described as Hamas-related problems in Hebron. It remains unclear how many of the people counted by the municipality have since returned home.