‘Like a prison’: The Palestinians in Hebron living under Israeli lockdown

[Bok Tuklo]

‘Like a prison’: The Palestinians in Hebron living under Israeli lockdown​

In Hebron’s H2, 700 Israeli settlers get military protection while 35,000 Palestinians can be shot if they step outside.
Hebron, occupied West Bank – Across the neighbourhoods of the H2 area of Hebron – the 20 percent of the Palestinian city where some 700 Israelis live in illegal settlements and the Israeli military has full control – the streets are mostly empty of H2’s approximately 35,000 Palestinian residents.

Patrolling the streets and manning the rooftops, instead, are Israeli soldiers and armed settlers in military uniform on the lookout for any movement from Palestinian homes. Besieged, Palestinian families describe conditions in which they are attacked, deprived of vital supplies and services, and have had their livelihoods cut off.

“This has never happened before where a full lockdown is implemented, even during the second Intifada,” said Bassam Abu Aisha, 61, vice president of a local drivers’ union and former president of the popular committee for Tel Rumeida, a hill and neighbourhood in the H2 area. “[Back then] we would have the liberty to go buy things and be in the street. But now no one can do that.”

Several residents who spoke to Al Jazeera said the same thing: “It’s like we are in a prison.”

Following the shocking October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas, Israeli soldiers came without warning to Palestinian shops in Hebron and ordered their owners and workers at gunpoint to close shop and stay home.

In online community chat groups, word trickled across the neighbourhoods of H2: Any Palestinians found outside their homes would be shot.

The Link

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I keep hearing that Israelis are killing civilian Palestinians in the West Bank. I thought that might be random settler violence sanctioned by Israel.

 

[oneworld2]

‘Like a prison’: The Palestinians in Hebron living under Israeli lockdown​

In Hebron’s H2, 700 Israeli settlers get military protection while 35,000 Palestinians can be shot if they step outside.
Hebron, occupied West Bank – Across the neighbourhoods of the H2 area of Hebron – the 20 percent of the Palestinian city where some 700 Israelis live in illegal settlements and the Israeli military has full control – the streets are mostly empty of H2’s approximately 35,000 Palestinian residents.

Patrolling the streets and manning the rooftops, instead, are Israeli soldiers and armed settlers in military uniform on the lookout for any movement from Palestinian homes. Besieged, Palestinian families describe conditions in which they are attacked, deprived of vital supplies and services, and have had their livelihoods cut off.

“This has never happened before where a full lockdown is implemented, even during the second Intifada,” said Bassam Abu Aisha, 61, vice president of a local drivers’ union and former president of the popular committee for Tel Rumeida, a hill and neighbourhood in the H2 area. “[Back then] we would have the liberty to go buy things and be in the street. But now no one can do that.”

Several residents who spoke to Al Jazeera said the same thing: “It’s like we are in a prison.”

Following the shocking October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas, Israeli soldiers came without warning to Palestinian shops in Hebron and ordered their owners and workers at gunpoint to close shop and stay home.

In online community chat groups, word trickled across the neighbourhoods of H2: Any Palestinians found outside their homes would be shot.

The Link

***********************************************************

I keep hearing that Israelis are killing civilian Palestinians in the West Bank. I thought that might be random settler violence sanctioned by Israel.

The settlers have their people controlling the West Bank, officially govt controlling the West Bank, what could go wrong?

For the past three weeks, since Hamas's atrocities of October 7th, settlers have been exploiting the lack of public attention to the West Bank, as well as the general atmosphere of rage against Palestinians, to escalate their campaign of violent attacks in an attempt to forcibly transfer Palestinian communities. During this period, no fewer than thirteen herding communities have been displaced. Many more are in danger of being forced to flee in the coming days if immediate action is not taken.

Unfortunately, the Israeli government is supportive of these attacks and does nothing to stop this violence. On the contrary: government ministers and other officials are backing the violence and in many cases the military is present or even participates in the violence, including in incidents where settlers have killed Palestinians. Moreover, since the war has begun there has been a growing number of incidents in which violent settlers have been documented attacking nearby Palestinian communities while wearing military uniform and using government-issued weapons.

https://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20231029_joint_emergency_call_to_the_international_community_stop_the_forcible_transfer_in_the_west_bank

That's just since the 7th October

 

[Craig234]

I saw an interview with a former IDF soldier who said he realized how wrong Israel-wth was when his job was go go to the West Bank where settlers wanted to have celebrations, and order Palestinians to stay indoors wherever they were for 24-48 hours. He said as he approached Palestinians tried to race home instead of being stuck somewhere else.

It's reported that the reason the Gaza border was so unprotected was because the soldiers had been order to the West Bank to do that for a settler celebration.