Netanyahu Orders Eviction of 250,000 Hebron Residents Following Checkpoint Attack

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a siege of Hebron and the neighboring town of Halhul, affecting approximately 250,000 residents, after gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others at a checkpoint outside the city.

The prime minister stated that all residents of the neighborhoods where the attackers lived would be forced to leave and that mass demolitions of homes would follow. Defense Minister Israel Katz reinforced this stance, explicitly comparing the planned measures in Hebron to the treatment of the Jenin refugee camp, where nearly 20,000 people have already been displaced. Katz declared that every clan neighborhood from which the terrorists emerged would be evacuated.

The first demolition began within hours of the shooting. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right candidate running in Tuesday's elections, posted video footage of himself standing in front of a bulldozer tearing down a Palestinian home near the firefight site. Smotrich explained that the structure, which lacked permits, was being destroyed to create deterrence and exact a price. He did not claim a direct link between the building's owners and the attackers.

Legal challenges followed quickly. Shortly after work began, Israel's high court issued a temporary order halting the demolitions. Human rights lawyer Mohammed Dahleh filed an urgent petition on behalf of two nearby factory owners, arguing that the actions breached international law regarding collective punishment and Israeli administrative law. Dahleh described the move as an attempt to copy illegal practices from Gaza in the heart of the West Bank. Michael Sfard, another leading Israeli lawyer, called Smotrich's video a direct admission that the demolitions constituted collective punishment.

The Israeli military reported that two men armed with an assault rifle and a handgun carried out the attack. They were driving a vehicle with Israeli number plates and opened fire after soldiers stopped them at a temporary checkpoint. A gunfight lasting 20 minutes ended with both gunmen killed. An AFP photographer witnessed the exchange, seeing two Palestinian men firing at Israeli forces from the car.

In the aftermath, conspiracy theories circulated among prominent Israelis, including a candidate for the far-right Amcha Yisrael party, linking the AFP photographer to the gunmen without evidence. The Foreign Press Association expressed alarm, calling the claims dangerous and defamatory. The association noted that the photographer is a longtime professional who was documenting events in keeping with his duties. This incident occurred one week after settlers severely injured photographer Heidi Levine while she documented attacks on Palestinians harvesting olives.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir traveled to Hebron on Friday, demanding the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority and tighter limits on movement. Netanyahu said plans for the largest military operation in the West Bank since 1967 were being drawn up, with no specific date set. The siege comes as polls suggest the governing far-right coalition, which backs settlers, may lose its majority in Tuesday's elections.

Since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, the West Bank has seen increased settlement expansion and violence, with more than 1,100 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or settlers. Attacks have intensified since the olive harvest began in late September.