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Palestinian officials reported that Israeli forces displaced more than 1,200 people and demolished multiple homes and businesses in the Ein Deir Baha and Farsh al-Hawa neighbourhoods of Hebron on Saturday. Hebron mayor Youssef al-Jaabari told Reuters and WAFA that around 200 families were forced from their residences overnight with some ordered to leave without their vehicles while soldiers marked structures for demolition using spray paint or an X symbol. The municipality estimated that the affected area covered 35 hectares with footage circulated online showing entire streets levelled by bulldozers according to multiple outlets including the BBC and the Guardian. Al-Jaabari added that the military had sealed all entrances to the city of roughly 250,000 residents sharply restricting movement.
The operation followed a Friday attack in which two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at an Israeli military checkpoint near Hebron killing two soldiers and injuring three others before the assailants were killed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the response immediately after the incident vowing to destroy the neighbourhood from which the attackers originated and comparing it to prior military actions in Jenin refugee camp. Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that the effort would mirror operations conducted in Gaza and Lebanon while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich posted video of himself near a bulldozer at the site according to reports from the Times of Israel and Al Jazeera.
In a joint statement the Israeli military and Shin Bet security agency described the campaign as targeted and limited to the area linked to the gunmen with the aim of locating terrorist infrastructure seizing weapons and questioning suspects. The military added that it would demolish illegal structures posing a security threat while allowing residents to exit through designated points after inspections. Officials have not commented on the displacement figures provided by Palestinian sources or on specific arrest numbers though the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported at least 70 detentions across the West Bank in related raids.
Residents described chaotic evacuations with families including women children and the elderly gathering belongings under military orders issued via loudspeakers late at night. Activist Issa Amro who is based in Hebron told the Guardian and Al Jazeera that his own sister and her seven children were among those displaced adding “We are being collectively punished for something we neither did nor supported.” One resident identified as Majdi Nasser told Reuters “This is all arbitrary” after soldiers marked his home following the evacuation order.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the actions as collective punishment and called for international intervention to protect residents while Hebron governor Khaled Dudin warned that the operation starting in the attackers’ area could expand further. Israeli human rights group B’Tselem criticised the plans as potential war crimes and urged global pressure to halt the forced displacements. The group has documented similar patterns in the northern West Bank where it said nearly 20,000 people were displaced in earlier operations.
UN OCHA data compiled by the Good Shepherd Collective indicates that 389 home demolitions and structure seizures occurred in the West Bank and East Jerusalem from January to mid-October 2026 displacing 2,019 Palestinians including 931 children. The figures reflect a 13 percent rise in displacements compared with the same period in 2025 despite a drop in the number of incidents. B’Tselem’s database separately records hundreds of additional demolitions in the region this year many justified by Israel on grounds of lacking building permits or as punitive measures.
The events unfold days before Israeli parliamentary elections on Tuesday with opinion polls suggesting Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition could lose its majority. Local officials including al-Jaabari told Arab News that the scale of the response appeared motivated in part by the political calendar. Netanyahu’s government has overseen expanded settlement activity in the West Bank which most countries deem illegal though Israel disputes that characterisation according to Reuters reporting.
