Israel expands expulsions in occupied West Bank to cement control | Israel-Palestine conflict News– www.aljazeera.com

More than 3,000 Palestinians have been forced from their homes in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron as the Israeli army escalates a sweeping military operation that human rights experts describe as a calculated effort to permanently displace the Palestinian population.

Israel has imposed a lockdown across the city and detained at least 71 people over the past four days, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.

Hebron Governor Khaled Dudin said on Monday a total of 488 families comprising 3,171 people had been displaced across the wider governorate, while Mayor Yousef al-Jabari told Al Jazeera that 3,043 of those forced from their homes are from within Hebron city limits alone.

Separately, the Israeli military continues a demolition campaign that has resulted in the destruction of residential buildings, factories and roads, while also blocking roads, raiding homes and assaulting Palestinians.

The crackdown has been in place since Friday, when two soldiers were killed in a shooting near the city. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has justified it by pledging an operation “unseen” since the 1967 war.