<\/p>\n
Two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian attackers were killed after gunmen opened fire near a military checkpoint outside the city. At least five soldiers were injured.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Israeli authorities subsequently sealed entrances and exits to Hebron and announced house-to-house searches and planned home demolitions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres raised concern about the closures, reports of possible displacement and the impact of military operations on Palestinian civilians. \u201cThose closures severely restrict Palestinians\u2019 freedom of movement, access to basic services and livelihoods,\u201d UN Spokesperson St\u00e9phane Dujarric said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Guterres called on all parties to end violence, exercise restraint and avoid actions that could further intensify tensions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The UN also condemned record numbers of attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians during 2026.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Guterres reminded Israel of the obligation as the occupying power to protect Palestinians from settler violence and hold perpetrators accountable.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Mayy El Sheikh described the Hebron lockdown as \u201cyet another episode in a never-ending stream of suffocating measures making life more and more unbearable for Palestinians\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
El Sheikh said closures, intensified raids and detentions following attacks by Palestinians reflected a \u201cpattern of collective punishment\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Ibrahimi Mosque was also closed, preventing worshippers from attending Friday prayers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The restrictions come during the olive harvest, when many Palestinian families depend on access to farmland for income. \u201cIsraeli movement restrictions are already preventing thousands of Palestinian farmers from reaching their olives for the harvest,\u201d El Sheikh said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is bound to have devastating effects on the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The UN Human Rights Office documented more than 160 settler attacks during the first two weeks of October, involving live ammunition, arson, crop theft and damage to olive groves.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
European Union diplomats and a Washington Post photojournalist were also reportedly targeted during separate incidents connected to the harvest.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Guterres also expressed concern about continuing civilian deaths and severe humanitarian restrictions in Gaza as winter approached.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The UN called for civilians to be protected and for immediate restraint across the occupied Palestinian territories.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":43923,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-48940","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The United Nations (UN) has expressed alarm over escalating violence and tightened movement restrictions in the occupied West Bank following a deadly attack near Hebron.","published_date":"","news_description":"The United Nations (UN) has expressed alarm over escalating violence and tightened movement restrictions in the occupied West Bank following a deadly attack near Hebron.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48942,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48940\/revisions\/48942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=48940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}