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Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday sealed the doors of several Palestinian homes in the Old City of Hebron, blocking residents from entering or leaving, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

WAFA reported that soldiers used oxygen welding to shut the main entrances of homes belonging to members of the Idris family in the Jaber neighbourhood, near the Ibrahimi Mosque (Tomb of the Patriarchs). Residents were prevented from accessing their properties after the doors were sealed.

The Jaber, Salaymeh, and Wadi al-Hussein neighbourhoods have already been cut off for more than a year, after Israeli forces closed all connecting roads with barbed wire, isolating hundreds of families from the rest of Hebron’s southern sector.

According to local sources, more than 750 Palestinian families living in Hebron’s Old City face harsh and deteriorating conditions under intensifying restrictions imposed by Israeli forces and armed settler groups.

Since October 2023, Israeli authorities have imposed nightly curfews on approximately 11 neighbourhoods, barring residents from leaving their homes during evening hours. Severe daytime restrictions remain in place as well, with movement allowed only during limited time windows.

Residents report daily incidents of abuse, harassment, and intimidation by soldiers and settlers, as Israel continues to tighten control over the Old City, one of the most heavily militarised zones in the occupied West Bank.

READ: Israeli military prepares target bank in West Bank ahead of possible escalation

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.