Israel Clears Hebron Neighborhoods and Razes Buildings After Checkpoint Attack, Palestinian Officials Put Displaced at 1,000 to 1,500

Since two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint outside Hebron on Friday, Oct. 23, Netanyahu's promised response has moved from announcement to bulldozers. On Saturday, Oct. 24, Israeli troops cleared neighborhoods in the West Bank city, marked buildings for demolition and flattened structures in the area of the attack.

How many people were forced out

The numbers depend on who is counting, and none are independently confirmed.

Hebron Mayor Youssef al-Jaabari said more than 1,000 people had been displaced, centered on the Ein Deir Baha and Farsh al-Hawa neighborhoods. He said he believes the military intends to displace 2,500 people from about 0.35 square kilometers of urban land. The Hebron municipality later estimated 35 hectares (86 acres) destroyed or marked for destruction and about 1,500 people evicted by Saturday afternoon.

On families, the figures run from 150 (Hebron Governor Khaled Dudin) to roughly 250 (the mayor and activist Issa Amro) to about 300 (a municipal spokesperson). The governor and deputy mayor told the BBC at least 200 families had been displaced.

The military cordoned off the city, which has between 200,000 and 250,000 residents depending on the estimate. The IDF has not published a count of displaced residents.

What the Israeli military says it is doing

The IDF says the operation, run with the Shin Bet and Border Police, is meant to find militants and weapons in the area the attackers came from. It described "precise, targeted and thorough searches" and said residents can leave through designated exits where security checks take place. The military said it is interrogating dozens of suspects and expects the operation to last several days.

IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth said forces were cordoning off Hebron and neighboring Halhul. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said the military had reinforced the area with the 98th Division headquarters and additional troops.

The IDF's preliminary investigation found the gunmen apparently meant to attack Israeli civilians on a nearby highway and opened fire on soldiers after reaching the checkpoint, the military said. It said they carried substantial ammunition. The firefight lasted more than 20 minutes. The soldiers killed were identified as Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, of Ashkelon, and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, of Hod Hasharon, both of the 775th Ari Battalion.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he ordered the immediate demolition of a wide row of what he called illegal Arab structures next to the attack site. He also called for a comprehensive military campaign "exactly like in Gaza and Lebanon."

What residents describe

Families described abrupt evacuations. Higazi Shawer al-Tamimi, 70, a shopkeeper in Ein Deir Baha, said soldiers woke him at 1 a.m. and told him to leave. Asked how long, he said, the answer was "Until further notice." He said his 90-year-old mother-in-law had to be carried out.

Abdul Hamid Shahada, a resident of the al-Jalada neighborhood, told Middle East Eye that soldiers gave about 54 people, mostly children, five minutes to leave at 9 a.m. Saturday. He said they could take only small personal bags.

Middle East Eye reported that the al-Jalada neighborhood is home to the families of the two alleged attackers, identified as Ahmad and Hamouda al-Joba. Residents said troops marked homes with sprayed X's or crosses. Videos from residents showed whole blocks flattened and an Israeli flag draped on a house that residents say was taken over as a temporary military post.

The competing positions

Palestinian officials call this collective punishment. Governor Dudin said civilians "who have nothing at all" to do with the shooting are bearing the cost. Amro said the hundreds of families driven out are "not at all connected to what happened." Israeli rights groups have long criticized the demolition of homes tied to suspected attackers on the same grounds. The Palestinian Authority said it is mobilizing diplomats to seek action that "goes beyond condemnation."

Netanyahu's stated position is that the neighborhood is a source of attackers and its infrastructure must go. "We will evacuate the residents, go house to house, remove the weapons we find there, and deal with and destroy all terrorist infrastructure," he said Friday. He likened the approach to the 2025 operations in northern West Bank refugee camps, which displaced tens of thousands.

Hamas did not claim the attack but praised it and urged supporters to carry out more, according to AFP.

The election clock

Israel votes Tuesday, Oct. 27. Netanyahu, whose campaign rests on security, canceled party events Friday and went to Hebron in body armor. Al-Tamimi said the operation is happening because Netanyahu wants to win "on the blood of the Palestinian people." Netanyahu has not said politics shaped the operation.

He also said he and Defense Minister Israel Katz have planned a far larger IDF operation across the West Bank "on a scale not seen since the Six-Day War." The IDF is ready, he said, and the timing is his to decide. No date has been given.

The IDF has said the Hebron operation is expected to last several days. Whether the wider operation Netanyahu described is launched, and when, is the open question for the days after Tuesday.