Hebron Demolitions: Two-Day Sweep Displaces 1,500 Residents

Israeli military operations in Hebron have flattened 35 hectares of land in the Ein Deir Baha district over a two-day period. The Hebron municipality stated that 1,500 people were forced from their homes by Saturday afternoon. The city, home to 250,000 residents, was sealed off with checkpoints at every entry point.

The destruction followed an attack on Friday by two gunmen at an Israeli military checkpoint outside the city. A 20-minute gunfight left two Israeli soldiers dead and three wounded. Both gunmen were killed during the engagement. Authorities identified Ein Deir Baha as the home district of the attackers.

Local Palestinian authorities described the demolition campaign as collective punishment. The municipality reported that approximately 300 families were evicted. Some residents stayed with relatives, while others were housed in community halls and children's play areas provided by the city. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israel plans to displace a further 2,500 people in the coming days.

Videos from the scene showed stone walls and residential blocks reduced to rubble. One clip featured soldiers marking Palestinian houses with black crosses. Another showed a bulldozer clearing a hillside. A large residential building, which residents said belonged to a prominent Hebron family, was draped in Israeli flags and used as a temporary military headquarters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visited the attack site. Netanyahu stated that Israel would "act to destroy this place." Smotrich, who is running for election with a smaller coalition party, was filmed in body armor in front of a building being demolished. He said he ordered the "immediate demolition of a wide row of illegal Arab structures adjacent to the attack site" and called for a "comprehensive military campaign" similar to operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

Issa Amro, a civil rights activist in Hebron, said his sister's family was among those displaced. "We are being collectively punished for something we neither did nor supported," he said. "Our suffering is being turned into political material for Israel's elections, while innocent families pay the price." Amro added that hundreds of families had no connection to the Friday attack and were unsure if the operation was election propaganda or a post-election plan.

The Israeli army was approached for comment on the scale of the destruction and the videos showing the operations. Elections are scheduled for four days from the date of the municipal report.