Israel Orders Eviction of 250,000 Hebron Residents After Checkpoint Killings

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a military siege of Hebron and the nearby town of Halhul on Friday. This follows a gunfight at a checkpoint outside the city that left two Israeli soldiers dead and three others wounded. Netanyahu stated that residents of the neighborhoods where the gunmen lived would be forced to leave. He also promised widespread demolition of homes in the area.

The Israeli military reported that two men armed with an assault rifle and a handgun carried out the attack. They were driving a car with Israeli license plates and opened fire when soldiers stopped them at a temporary checkpoint. A 20-minute exchange of gunfire ensued, during which both attackers were killed. An AFP photographer who witnessed the scene described seeing two Palestinian men firing automatic weapons at the forces.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich traveled to the scene and recorded a video of a bulldozer destroying a Palestinian home near the checkpoint. He explained that the building had been constructed without permits. Smotrich said the demolition was intended to create deterrence and exact a price. No connection was established between the owners of the house and the two men who launched the attack.

Legal challenges began immediately. Human rights lawyer Mohammed Dahleh filed an urgent petition with Israel's high court on behalf of two nearby factory owners. Dahleh argued that the action violated international laws against collective punishment. The court issued a temporary order halting the demolitions shortly after work began. He called the move an attempt to copy illegal practices from Gaza.

Michael Sfard, a prominent Israeli lawyer, described Smotrich's video as a direct admission that the demolitions amounted to collective punishment. He noted that deterrence has historically been used as a justification for such measures. Defence Minister Israel Katz expanded on the plan, stating that Hebron would be treated similarly to the Jenin refugee camp. In Jenin, nearly 20,000 people have been displaced. Katz declared that every clan neighborhood from which terrorists emerged would be evacuated.

Hebron is the largest Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank, home to approximately 250,000 people. Netanyahu indicated that plans are being drawn up for the largest military operation in the region since 1967. He said a specific date has not been set, but the operation is on the way. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also visited Hebron on Friday, demanding tighter limits on Palestinian movement.

The incident occurred ahead of national elections scheduled for Tuesday. Polls suggest the governing far-right coalition may lose its majority. Since October 2023, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank. Violence has increased since the olive harvest began in late September. The Foreign Press Association expressed alarm over conspiracy theories linking the AFP photographer to the gunmen, calling the claims dangerous and defamatory.