UN sounds the alarm over Israel's West Bank military operation

The Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron was met with sharp criticism from the head of the UN as well as the UN's human rights commissioner in comments made on Monday.

The criticism comes after an Israeli military operation was launched in the occupied West Bank in response to a shootout on Friday that left two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian gunmen dead. Three more Israeli soldiers were also injured.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to demolish buildings in the West Bank city of Hebron and to close off the West Bank. It came just days before Israel's general election on Tuesday.

What did the UN say about Israeli operation in the West Bank?

The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that "settlements are expanding, evictions are unrelenting with Palestinians driven from their lands," in a post on X.

"We are seeing an increasingly coercive environment, with the spectre of ethnic cleaning looming ever larger," he wrote.

The UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk also issued a statement condemning Israeli actions, saying the "aggressive operation" has resulted in the forcible displacement of thousands of Palestinians, "demolished homes and commercial property, and deprived residents of the ability to move freely."

"Collective punishment is a grave violation of international law. Threats to empty and erase entire neighbourhoods also raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing," he said.

A UN report, also released on Monday, that accuses Israel of committing war crimes in the West Bank, was rejected by the Israeli Foreign Ministry as "propaganda."

The ministry said that the findings were "not a human rights report but a propaganda document detached from reality, aimed at undermining Israel's right to self-defense, delegitimizing the Jewish state, and legitimizing jihadist terrorism against its citizens."

What is the Israeli operation in the West Bank?

Israeli troops entered the Deir Baha neighborhood, where the assailants lived, and ordered residents to pack up and leave.

The Hebron municipality said that more than 3,000 people, including 200 babies, were ordered to leave.

The Israeli military said at the weekend that its troops were carrying out precise, targeted and thorough searches to "locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure and locate weapons, alongside questioning suspects" in Hebron.

The military said the operation was expected to continue "for several days" and would focus on Deir Baha.

The largescale response to the firefight in the West Bank comes in the run-up to elections in Israel on Tuesday that could bring an end to Netanyahu's premiership.

Netanyahu has frequently painted himself as the only person who can keep Israel safe but his opponents have accused him of lacking a plan.