WEST BANK, Jan 19: The Israeli military has launched a "large-scale" operation in Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank, deploying hundreds of soldiers and heavy machinery in a move that has paralysed the city's southern districts.
In a joint statement issued on Monday, the Israeli army and the internal security service, Shin Bet, confirmed the offensive, stating it aims to "thwart terror infrastructure" and confiscate weapons in the Jebel Johar area.
The army warned the operation would continue for "several days".
Reporting from the scene, Al Jazeera Arabic's correspondent Montaser Nassar described a state of total lockdown.
"We are in the so-called southern region of Hebron, which has been under a curfew since dawn," Nassar said. "There is an intensive deployment of occupation forces … including bulldozers and tracked armoured vehicles."
"We witnessed tracked armoured vehicles … the last time we saw these in Hebron was during the second Intifada during [Israeli] Operation Defensive Shield," he said, noting the significance of the heavy equipment.
While the army cited "counterterrorism goals", Nassar observed soldiers installing new metal barriers, warning of a long-term tightening of control.
"They brought in iron gates a short while ago, and this is the dangerous part," Nassar said. "It seems that what is happening on the ground is a prelude to dividing the already divided."
Video footage verified by local sources showed Israeli forces closing the Tariq bin Ziyad roundabout with cement blocks and earth mounds. Palestinian news agency Wafa reported at least seven arrests.
Nassar pointed out that the raid is taking place less than half a kilometre from the Ibrahimi Mosque, following recent Israeli moves to strip Palestinian authority over the site. "AL JAZEERA
