AFP via Getty ImagesThe Israeli military has launched a sweeping crackdown in the occupied West Bank, demolishing homes and businesses in the city of Hebron and displacing hundreds of families, according to local officials.
Footage shared online showed destruction caused by Israeli bulldozers, with at least one whole street appearing to have been flattened. The military has also cordoned off the city, heavily restricting the movement of its 200,000 residents.
The operation was announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, in response to the killing of two Israeli soldiers by two Palestinian gunmen in an attack on a checkpoint. Three other Israeli soldiers were injured, and the gunmen were also killed.
Netanyahu said on Friday that buildings around the site of the attack and the neighbourhoods that the two gunmen were from would be “destroyed”.
He said dozens of families had been forced to spend the night outside, with some told to leave without taking their vehicles, while homes were marked for demolition with spray paint.
He added that he believed the military planned to displace a total of 2,500 people from about 0.35 sq km of urban land. The city’s governor and deputy mayor meanwhile said at least 200 families had been displaced.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not respond immediately to the BBC’s request for comment. It said in a statement on social media that it had dozens of targets across the West Bank and that its operations would last for several days.
Reuters
ReutersIt is common practice for Israeli forces to demolish the homes of Palestinians who are suspected of carrying out attacks on Israelis in the West Bank – a practice Israeli rights groups have criticised as collective punishment.
Netanyahu likened the operation to previous operations in Palestinian refugee camps in the north of the territory, when the Israeli military demolished hundreds of homes and displaced tens of thousands in 2025.
Friday’s shooting came during a tense time for the region, with Israel’s general election taking place in four days’ time.
Netanyahu – who has built his campaign on the promise of security – cancelled his party’s campaign events for Friday morning and headed to Hebron, wearing protective armour and posting a video on social media from the scene.
“We will evacuate the residents, go house to house, remove the weapons we find there, and deal with and destroy all terrorist infrastructure,” he said.
He also announced he had reviewed plans for the largest military operation in the West Bank since 1967 – though did not say when it could be carried out. It is not clear whether the ongoing Hebron operation forms part of that.
In an interview with Israel’s i24 television channel released on Saturday, he threatened “a very big surprise” for the Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs parts of the territory.
In a statement, the PA called for “urgent international action that went beyond condemnation” to prevent further forced displacement.
Meanwhile, his far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for Israel to launch a campaign in the West Bank “exactly like in Gaza or Lebanon,” while far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for Israel to dismantle the PA.
Speaking to journalists, Hebron’s mayor said the operation was “driven by the elections,” and that Netanyahu and his ministers were attempting to secure the votes of the far-right and the settlers.
