Israel Orders Hebron Siege and Home Demolitions After Checkpoint Gunfight
Netanyahu announced the lockdown after two soldiers were killed at a temporary checkpoint outside the city, with an Israeli court quickly pausing the first demolition.
By Karim Ramirez ·
Two Israeli soldiers were killed and three others wounded when gunmen opened fire at a temporary checkpoint outside Hebron on Friday, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce a siege on the city and the neighbouring town of Halhul. The Israeli military said the attackers used an assault rifle and a handgun from a car carrying Israeli plates, and that both were killed after a 20 minute gunfight.
The first demolition followed within hours. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich posted video of a bulldozer taking down a Palestinian home near the firefight, calling the structure unpermitted and saying the act was meant to "create deterrence and exact a price." No link between the building's owners and the attackers was claimed. Israel's high court issued a temporary order halting demolitions shortly after the work began, after human rights lawyer Mohammed Dahleh filed an urgent petition for two nearby factory owners arguing the action breached international law on collective punishment. "What we saw today was an attempt to copy the illegal practices used in Gaza, in the heart of the West Bank," Dahleh said.
Defence Minister Israel Katz promised further mass demolitions and forced displacement. "Every clan neighbourhood in Hebron from which the terrorists emerged today will be evacuated of its residents," he said, pointing to the Jenin refugee camp, where nearly 20,000 people have left their homes. Netanyahu said plans were drawn up for the largest military operation in the West Bank since 1967, adding, "but it is on the way." Hebron holds about 250,000 residents, the largest Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank.
An AFP photographer who witnessed the exchange saw two Palestinian men firing on Israeli forces. Prominent Israelis, including a candidate for the far-right Amcha Yisrael party, then circulated conspiracy theories about the photographer. The Foreign Press Association called those claims "dangerous and defamatory" and described the photographer as a longtime professional documenting events in keeping with his duties.
Since the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023, more than 1,100 people have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the occupied West Bank, and settlement expansion has grown. Attacks have risen since the olive harvest began in late September, a week after settlers severely injured photographer Heidi Levine while she documented attacks on Palestinians harvesting olives.
The violence lands days before Tuesday's elections, where polls suggest the governing far-right coalition that backs settlers may lose its majority. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir travelled to Hebron on Friday, demanding the Palestinian Authority be dismantled and limits tightened on Palestinian movement. Israeli military plans for a larger West Bank operation remain undated.
Source: The Guardian
