By Abdel Raouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) – Eleven neighborhoods in the Palestinian city of Hebron have been under curfew of the Israeli military since Oct. 7, an Israeli NGO said.
“Stores and businesses have been shut down and thousands of people, amounting to about 750 families, are imprisoned at home. Only after two weeks of full curfew, on 21 October 2023, did the military permit residents to leave home on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening,” B’Tselem said in a report.
The Old City in Hebron is under Israeli control, and it is inhabited by a number of Israeli settlers.
“Venturing out of the house requires crossing checkpoints and engaging with soldiers. This invariably involves humiliating treatment and meticulous body searches, and takes up most of the brief window of time allotted to the residents,” the NGO said.
B’Tselem stressed that there is “no justification for keeping hundreds of people under a blanket movement ban.”
“Israel is taking advantage of the fact that local and international attention is currently diverted from the West Bank to impose far-reaching measures that constitute collective punishment, which is prohibited under international law,” B’Tselem said, adding: “This conduct is integral to Israel’s apartheid regime, which is at its most flagrant in Hebron.”
* Writing by Rania Abu Shamala