Hebron, 25 October. The Israeli army has launched a military operation in the occupied West Bank and is besieging Hebron for a second day: according to Anadolu, around 1,500 Palestinians have been forced from their homes.
According to CGTN, Israeli troops pushed into Hebron and displaced up to 250 Palestinian families, some in the middle of the night. The operation began after two Israeli soldiers were killed at a checkpoint near Hebron on Friday. A day earlier, on 24 October, 1,200 people were reported displaced.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier threatened an operation in the West Bank on a scale unseen in decades. The operation is taking place days before Israel's parliamentary election on 27 October; on Saturday, three days before the vote, thousands of people took to the streets of Tel Aviv to protest against Netanyahu's government.
What it means: Netanyahu's threat has turned into an operation, and the number of people displaced in Hebron rose within a day from 1,200 to around 1,500, according to different reports.
Who benefits: Netanyahu's government shows toughness before the 27 October election. Hebron's Palestinians are losing their homes in the operation; the Israeli side has not said how long the siege will last.
Background: Hebron is the largest city in the West Bank, where Israeli settlers live alongside the Palestinian population; part of the city is under Israeli army control.
We have also reported that Israel forced 1,200 Palestinians from their homes in Hebron and that Netanyahu closed Hebron and threatened a West Bank operation.
