Symbolic imageIsrael seals West Bank for election as Hebron displacement grows
Israel's army says all West Bank land crossings will close on Tuesday, election day. In Hebron, thousands have been forced from their homes since an attack on Friday killed two soldiers.
On Sunday, 25 October, Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed that about 2,000 people were evacuated from Hebron's Ein Deir Bahha neighbourhood, where the two attackers lived. He said they may not return until Israel has dealt with "all the Hamas issues in Hebron". Hebron's municipality counts more than 2,200 displaced, and the Palestinian prime minister's office, citing the municipality, more than 2,670, mostly women, children and elderly people. The Palestinian Authority calls the demolitions, displacement and closures collective punishment and demands international action. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested an operation on a scale not seen since 1967.
Homes turned into army posts
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that troops took over homes in Khallat Manna and Dahiyat al-Zaytoun as barracks and are using properties in other neighbourhoods as observation posts.
Arrests and workers' ban
The army says it operated at about 400 locations and arrested around 40 suspects it links to Hamas and Islamic Jihad; the Palestinian Prisoner's Society counts at least 47 detentions in Hebron. Palestinian workers are barred from settlements on Sunday and Monday, with exceptions for industrial zones.
Other opinions
Israel's army describes the operation as anti-terror action against Hamas cells. Al Jazeera quotes a researcher calling the displacement ethnic cleansing.