What Is Happening in Hebron After Israeli Forces Began Demolishing Homes?

Israeli forces have demolished homes and businesses in the West Bank city of Hebron and displaced hundreds of families, local Palestinian officials said on Saturday. The operation follows a Friday attack on an army checkpoint outside the city and has come days before Israel's general election.

What happened at the checkpoint?

According to the Guardian, two gunmen attacked an Israeli military checkpoint outside Hebron on Friday. After a 20-minute gunfight, two Israeli soldiers and both gunmen were dead, and three soldiers were wounded.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to the site and promised a forceful response. He said buildings around the attack site and the neighborhoods the gunmen came from would be destroyed. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he had ordered the immediate demolition of a row of structures next to the site.

What are officials saying about the scale of the demolitions?

Figures differ. The Hebron municipality estimated that 35 hectares (86 acres) had been destroyed or marked for destruction in the Ein Deir Baha district and that about 1,500 people had been evicted by Saturday afternoon, the Guardian reported. A municipality spokesperson put the number of evicted families at about 300. The BBC cited the city's governor and deputy mayor as saying at least 200 families had been displaced.

Hebron's mayor, Youssef al-Jaabari, told the BBC the operation centered on the Ein Deir Baha and Farsh al-Hawa neighborhoods and hit homes, businesses, industrial sites and infrastructure. He said he believed the military planned to displace 2,500 people from about 0.35 sq km of urban land. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported a plan to displace a further 2,500 people, the Guardian said.

Videos sent by a resident and reviewed by the Guardian showed several blocks of flattened houses, soldiers spray-painting black crosses on homes and a bulldozer pulling down a stone wall. The BBC said footage showed at least one street apparently leveled.

What has the Israeli side said?

The Israel Defense Forces said in a social media statement that it had dozens of targets across the West Bank and that its operations would continue for several days, according to the BBC. Netanyahu said troops would evacuate residents, search houses for weapons and destroy what he called terrorist infrastructure.

The prime minister also said he had reviewed plans for the largest military operation in the West Bank since 1967, without saying when it might happen. The BBC said it is unclear whether the Hebron operation is part of those plans. Smotrich called for a campaign in the West Bank like those in Gaza and Lebanon, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for dismantling the Palestinian Authority, the BBC reported.

What do Palestinians say?

Hebron civil rights activist Issa Amro told the Guardian that families with no link to the attack were being punished, and that his sister's family was among those driven out. He said it was unclear whether the plan was election propaganda or part of decisions about what to do after the vote. The mayor told journalists the operation was driven by the election, as Netanyahu and his ministers court far-right and settler voters, the BBC reported.

The Palestinian Authority called for urgent international action beyond condemnation to prevent further forced displacement.

Why it matters for the people of Hebron

Both outlets said the Israeli military sealed off the city, which the Guardian put at 250,000 residents and the BBC at 200,000. The Guardian reported checkpoints at every point of entry, and the BBC said movement was heavily restricted.

The mayor said dozens of families spent the night outside, some told to leave without their vehicles. Some evicted residents found shelter with friends and relatives, and the municipality opened community halls and children's play areas to house others, the Guardian reported.

The BBC noted that Israeli forces commonly demolish the homes of Palestinians suspected of attacks, a practice Israeli rights groups have criticized as collective punishment. Netanyahu compared the Hebron operation to earlier campaigns in refugee camps in the north of the West Bank, where the military demolished hundreds of homes and displaced tens of thousands in 2025, according to the BBC.

What happens next?

Israel's election takes place in four days, and the military has said its operations will last several days. In an interview with Israel's i24 television channel on Saturday, Netanyahu threatened a surprise for the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the territory, the BBC reported. He did not give details.

Around Prague, based on reporting by The Guardian, BBC News