Bank Says Hebron Evictions Would Cost Millions; Court Halts Work

Israel's Finance Ministry began estimating the cost of a military operation in Hebron on Friday, hours after a court order stopped the first home demolition. The ministry has not released figures for the siege of Hebron and the neighbouring town of Halhul, or for the demolitions of homes in the gunmen's neighbourhoods that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered.

The operation began after two Israeli soldiers were killed and three others wounded at a temporary checkpoint outside Hebron on Thursday. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich posted a video of a bulldozer tearing down a Palestinian home near the site of the firefight. The home had been built without permits. Smotrich said the demolition was meant to "create deterrence and exact a price". No link was claimed between the owners and the attackers.

Israel's high court issued a temporary order halting the demolition shortly after work began. Human rights lawyer Mohammed Dahleh filed an urgent petition on behalf of two nearby factory owners. He argued the demolition breached international law on collective punishment as well as Israeli administrative law. "What we saw today was an attempt to copy the illegal practices used in Gaza, in the heart of the West Bank," Dahleh said.

Michael Sfard, an Israeli lawyer, called Smotrich's video a "direct admission" that the demolitions amounted to collective punishment. Defence Minister Israel Katz promised further mass demolitions and forced displacement. He compared the operation to the Jenin refugee camp, where nearly 20,000 people have been forced from their homes. "Every clan neighbourhood in Hebron from which the terrorists emerged today will be evacuated of its residents," Katz said.

Hebron is the largest Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank, with about 250,000 residents. Netanyahu said plans were drawn up for the largest military operation in the West Bank since 1967. No date has been set, he said, "but it is on the way".

The attack was carried out by two men armed with an assault rifle and a handgun, according to the Israeli military. They were driving a car with Israeli number plates and opened fire after soldiers stopped them at the checkpoint. Both were killed after a gunfight lasting 20 minutes.

Polls suggest the governing far-right coalition, which backs settlers, may lose its majority in Tuesday's elections. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and other ministers travelled to the scene of the shooting on Thursday. Ben-Gvir called for the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority and tighter limits on Palestinians' movement.

The Foreign Press Association said it was deeply alarmed by conspiracy theories shared by prominent Israelis, including a candidate for the far-right Amcha Yisrael party, that linked an AFP photographer to the gunmen. The association called the claims "dangerous and defamatory" and described the photographer as a longtime professional who documented events in keeping with his duties.

The court order halting the first demolition remains in effect. The siege of Hebron and Halhul continues, and no date has been set for the wider military operation Netanyahu described.