Palestine weekly: West Bank under siege as Israelis go to the polls

Israel sealed the West Bank, emptied parts of Hebron and tightened the squeeze on Gaza as its election campaign wrapped up.While Israelis go to the polls this week in one of the most consequential elections in years, many Palestinians in the West Bank have been confined to their homes or neighbourhoods as a wave of Israeli military operations around Hebron continues.The West Bank city has been in a state of lockdown since two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at an army checkpoint at Hebron’s northern entrance on Friday, killing two Israeli soldiers and wounding three. After the suspects were killed, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the isolation of Hebron and said troops would go house to house in the gunmen’s neighbourhood. “We will act to destroy this place, to change it completely,” he proclaimed.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Could the midterms change US military support for Israel?list 2 of 3UN panel accuses Israel of ‘extermination’ in West Bank, genocide in Gazalist 3 of 3‘Everything destroyed’: Hebron businesses count cost of Israeli assaultend of listWhat followed has been a mass displacement operation in the Hebron area, echoing last year’s ...