On October 23rd, two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers near Hebron. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to destroy the neighbourhood from which the attackers came. “First of all, we will act to destroy this place, to change it completely,” he said. He then declared: “We will evacuate the residents,” describing searches of every house. He also said that his government would consider extending this approach to other cities. He added that the army was prepared to launch an operation in the West Bank on a scale not seen since the Six-Day War of 1967—a war that displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
The prime minister who bears responsibility for the killing of tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza and the displacement of nearly its entire population is now openly announcing the mass displacement of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. Military operations and demolitions have already begun in Hebron.
Punishing an entire neighbourhood for the actions of two people is collective punishment, but these measures must also be understood as part of a broader, ongoing effort to ethnically cleanse large parts of the West Bank of Palestinians through harassment, home demolitions, and the facilitation and encouragement of settler terrorism.
We, Palestinians and Israelis who have stood together against bloodshed for twenty years, call on governments, international institutions, and people everywhere to act immediately to stop these crimes and protect those at risk.
Statements of condemnation and symbolic gestures are no longer enough. Governments must use their diplomatic and economic influence to halt the destructions and forced displacement. We urge our supporters around the world to demand that their representatives act now.
Do not wait until after Israel’s elections. Whatever the result, the current government remains in office until a new government takes over.
An election does not suspend its power to destroy homes or drive people from their land.
How many more families will lose their homes before the world acts?
