Israeli Troops Level Hebron Streets

Israeli forces have initiated a broad operation in Hebron, a major city in the occupied West Bank, demolishing structures and displacing hundreds of families, local officials reported on Saturday. Footage circulated online depicted bulldozers leveling at least one complete street, causing significant damage to the area.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has sealed off the city, placing tight restrictions on the movement of its 200,000 residents. The military declined to immediately comment on the specific request for information but stated on social media that it had dozens of targets across the West Bank. The army noted that these operations are scheduled to continue for several days.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the start of the operation on Friday. The action followed an attack at a checkpoint where two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others. Both gunmen were subsequently killed by security forces. Netanyahu stated that buildings near the site of the attack, along with the neighborhoods the gunmen came from, would be destroyed.

Youssef al-Jaabari, the Mayor of Hebron, identified the Ein Deir Baha and Farsh al-Hawa neighborhoods as the specific areas being targeted. He confirmed that the operation struck homes, businesses, industrial sites, and infrastructure. According to the mayor, dozens of families were forced to spend Friday night outdoors after being instructed to leave without their vehicles. Houses were marked for demolition with spray paint.

Mayor al-Jaabari estimates that the military intends to displace 2,500 people from a zone covering approximately 0.35 square kilometers of urban land. Officials from the city's government, including the governor and deputy mayor, reported that at least 200 families have already been displaced. The Palestinian Authority has called for urgent international action to prevent further forced displacement.

Netanyahu canceled his party's campaign events on Friday morning to travel to Hebron, where he was photographed wearing protective armor. He posted a video from the scene stating, "We will evacuate the residents, go house to house, remove the weapons we find there, and deal with and destroy all terrorist infrastructure." The prime minister also mentioned reviewing plans for the largest military operation in the West Bank since 1967, though it remains unclear if the Hebron operation is part of those plans.

The operation comes as Israel's general election is four days away. In an interview released Saturday, Netanyahu threatened a very big surprise for the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the territory. Within the Israeli government, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged a campaign in the West Bank similar to those in Gaza or Lebanon, while National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for the Palestinian Authority to be dismantled.

Mayor al-Jaabari told journalists that the operation is driven by the elections and that the prime minister and his ministers are trying to win the votes of the far right and settlers. The practice of demolishing the homes of Palestinians suspected of attacks on Israelis is common among Israeli forces in the West Bank, though Israeli rights groups have criticized it as collective punishment. Netanyahu compared the Hebron operation to earlier campaigns in Palestinian refugee camps in the north of the territory, where the military destroyed hundreds of homes and displaced tens of thousands of people in 2025.