RAMALLAH (Dispatches) -- Israeli forces detained at least 20 Palestinians in Hebron (Al-Khalil) on Sunday and have forcibly displaced more than 2,200 people since Friday, according to Palestinian officials.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli forces stormed most neighborhoods of Al-Khalil city, raided and searched homes, and subjected residents to abuse before detaining several Palestinians. 
Forces also raided Dura, Yatta and as-Samu south of Al-Khalil, detaining 11 Palestinians, with two more held in Tarqumiya and others in Halhul to the north.
The invasion followed a heroic operation on Friday near the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint west of Al-Khalil in which two Israeli soldiers were eliminated and three wounded.  
Residents described being ordered from their homes at gunpoint with five minutes’ notice. Abdul Hamid Shahada told Middle East Eye that soldiers stormed his building at 9am on Saturday and ordered about 54 people, mostly children, along with his 79-year-old ailing mother, to leave at once. 
“The soldiers ordered us to keep our hands behind our heads and forbade us from taking any clothing or belongings other than our small personal bags,” he said. 
Soldiers told the family they could not return “until further notice,” while some other families were told they would be kept out for six months to a year.
Israel’s terrorist war minister Israel Katz confirmed on Saturday that “about 2,000” Palestinians had been displaced. “They will not be allowed to return to their neighborhood until we’ve finished dealing with all the Hamas issues in Hebron,” Katz told public broadcaster Kan.
Al-Khalil Mayor Yousef al-Ja’bari told Al Jazeera that 2,200 people had been forced from their homes. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said the displaced include 127 infants, 81 pregnant women, 26 people with disabilities, 134 with chronic illnesses and 265 elderly people over 60.
Israeli forces converted Palestinian homes in the Khallat Manna and Dahiyat al-Zaytoun areas into barracks and observation posts, Wafa reported. 
The terrorist military also imposed a broad closure on Al-Khalil and surrounding villages, blocking main entrances and roads. Local sources reported that around seven dunums of land had been levelled in Farsh al-Hawa.
The Al-Khalil municipality activated an emergency plan, opening shelters at the Childhood Happiness Centre, the Korean Centre and other facilities. Deputy Mayor Khaled al-Qawasmi said approximately 250 families had been forced to leave so far, a figure he said was not final.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the operation as “collective punishment” and called for international intervention. Human rights group B’Tselem said Israeli leaders are “publicly announcing plans for collective punishment and acts that could constitute war crimes” and urged governments to act to prevent forcible displacement.
The escalation comes days before Israel’s parliamentary election on Tuesday, when the military said it would close all land crossings with the occupied West Bank.