Netanyahu Orders Hebron Demolition Following Checkpoint Attack

Israeli military forces razed a residential district in Hebron, displacing roughly 1,500 residents ahead of the national vote.

The destruction in the Ein Deir Baha area followed a gunfight on Friday outside the city. Two gunmen attacked an Israeli checkpoint, resulting in the deaths of two soldiers and the three wounded. Both attackers were killed during the 20-minute engagement. Local authorities identified Ein Deir Baha as the home district of the gunmen. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visited the checkpoint site and declared a hardline response. Netanyahu stated that Israel would act to destroy the location. Smotrich, who is running for office with a smaller coalition party, ordered the demolition of nearby structures. He was filmed in body armor near a building being torn down and called for a military campaign similar to those in Gaza and Lebanon.

The Hebron municipality reported that 35 hectares of land, or 86 acres, were either destroyed or marked for demolition by Saturday afternoon. The city of 250,000 was sealed off with checkpoints at every entry point. Residents shared videos showing entire blocks reduced to rubble. One clip showed soldiers marking Palestinian houses with black crosses. Another showed a bulldozer collapsing a stone wall on a hillside. A third video captured a large residential building covered in Israeli flags. Residents identified the building as the home of a prominent local family, which the army had converted into a temporary headquarters.

A spokesperson for the municipality stated that approximately 300 families were evicted. The city opened community halls and play areas to house displaced residents. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli forces planned to displace an additional 2,500 people. Issa Amro, a civil rights activist in Hebron, described the operation as collective punishment. He said his sister’s family was among those forced out. Amro noted that hundreds of families had left their homes with no connection to the attack. He questioned whether the operation was primarily election propaganda or a serious post-election plan.

Israeli elections are scheduled to take place in four days. The Israeli army was contacted for comment regarding the scale of the demolitions and the visual evidence of the destruction.