Israeli forces sealed off the city of Hebron and conducted wide-ranging raids across the occupied West Bank on Saturday, detaining dozens of Palestinians following a shooting attack that killed two Israeli soldiers.
The military clampdown began hours after two Palestinian gunmen opened fire Friday at a military checkpoint outside Hebron, near the Israeli settlement of Telem. Three other Israeli soldiers sustained light wounds before troops shot and killed both attackers during an extended gun battle, the Israel Defense Forces reported. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly ordered a cordon around Hebron and neighboring Halhul, while warning that security forces would conduct extensive arrests across the territory.
Demolitions and forced displacement
In Hebron, Israeli bulldozers demolished a three-story building on Friday, with troops giving residents five minutes to leave, CNN reported. Bulldozers and armored vehicles also moved into the al-Jalda and Ein Deir Bahha neighborhoods, where military authorities ordered hundreds of Palestinian families to evacuate.
Al Jazeera reported that at least 200 families were displaced from their homes overnight, with municipal officials in Hebron opening temporary shelters to house them. Nour Odeh, an Al Jazeera correspondent, described streets blocked by armored vehicles and shopping carts, leaving seven district entrances into the city of roughly 250,000 residents sealed shut.
Israel’s High Court of Justice issued a temporary order halting the demolitions following an emergency petition from human rights attorney Mohammed Dahleh, The Guardian reported. Dahleh argued that tearing down civilian homes violated both international law against collective punishment and Israeli administrative law.
Far-right Israeli officials praised the military actions while campaigning for Tuesday’s national elections. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich published a video of himself standing beside a bulldozer as it flattened a Palestinian structure, saying the action was designed to exact a price and restore deterrence. Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that the military would replicate tactics deployed in the northern West Bank, where thousands of residents were previously evacuated from refugee camps.
Raids expand across the territory
By Saturday morning, the military had extended operations far beyond Hebron, raiding at least 15 northern towns and villages, including Nablus, Jenin, Tubas, and Qalqilya, Al Jazeera reported. Soldiers entered the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp near Jericho and carried out arrests in multiple outlying villages.
The broad closure of nearly 1,000 gates and checkpoints across the West Bank effectively severed connections between Palestinian towns. Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative party, told Al Jazeera that the sweeping movement restrictions turned communities into small prisons, warning that collective punishment would ignite further unrest.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the offensive and urged international intervention, reporting that more than 40,000 Palestinians had already been displaced across the West Bank since the start of 2025 due to military operations and settler violence. Meanwhile, Hamas praised Friday’s checkpoint attack without claiming responsibility, stating that escalating Israeli pressure would only deepen Palestinian anger.
International alarm and political tensions
The escalation drew sharp criticism from human rights monitors and international officials. Israeli rights organization B’Tselem warned that forced expulsions and property destructions risk amounting to war crimes. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern over closures blocking access to basic livelihoods and services, while Mayy El Sheikh, a spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory, cautioned that the lockdown added to suffocating daily conditions for residents.
The military assault comes at a time of heightened regional friction, with attacks on Palestinian farmers surging during the annual autumn olive harvest and Israeli political factions battling for voter support before the coming ballot. Whether Israel’s military operation will remain confined to a multi-day sweep or expand into a months-long displacement campaign across southern West Bank neighborhoods remains uncertain.
