Israel launches Hebron military operation
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The gist
Israel began demolishing Hebron homes and ordered a city lockdown after a checkpoint attack killed two soldiers.
Around 2,500 Palestinians are reported displaced, and the operation comes days before Israel's election.
Background
Hebron is a Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank. On October 23, two gunmen attacked an Israeli military checkpoint near Farsh al-Hawa west of Hebron; after a 20-minute gunfight, two Israeli soldiers and both gunmen were dead and three soldiers were wounded. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then said buildings around the attack site and the gunmen's neighbourhoods would be "destroyed" and directed the military to impose a closure on Hebron and prepare a full West Bank lockdown. The operation came days before Israel's general election, with Netanyahu campaigning on security.
How it unfolded
- Oct 23, 2026Two gunmen attack an Israeli checkpoint near Farsh al-Hawa west of Hebron; after a 20-minute gunfight two Israeli soldiers and both gunmen are dead and three soldiers are wounded.
- Oct 23, 2026Israeli forces begin demolishing homes and businesses and evacuating residents; two excavators demolish a residential building in Farsh al-Hawa that sheltered a family of seven. Netanyahu orders a closure on Hebron and preparation for a full West Bank lockdown starting Friday.
- Oct 24, 2026Families are evicted from al-Jalada, Ein Deir Bahha, Wadi al-Maghariba and Shi'b al-Milh, residents tell Middle East Eye; Israeli forces arrest 20 Palestinians across Hebron. The IDF says its soldiers and Border Police operated in 40 areas and 400 locations over the weekend.
- Oct 24, 2026Israeli soldiers fire a stun grenade at Al Jazeera journalists near the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint; the Palestinian Authority calls for international pressure to protect Hebron's residents.
- Oct 25, 2026The operation enters its third day with further raids and arrests across the southern occupied West Bank.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Netanyahu said Israel will evacuate residents, go house to house, remove weapons and destroy "all terrorist infrastructure," and said he had reviewed plans for the largest West Bank operation since 1967.
- Official
- The IDF described the operation as one to thwart terrorism, launched with the Shin Bet and Border Police to locate and dismantle "terrorist infrastructure" and weapons, and said residents could leave through designated exits.
- Party
- Hebron Mayor Yousef al-Ja'bari said the city and several neighbouring villages are under a complete blockade, that he believed the military planned to displace 2,500 people, and that the move is "not only collective punishment" but also propaganda for Israel's upcoming elections.
- Caution
- The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, citing Hebron municipality estimates, said about 500 families comprising around 2,500 people were forced from their homes, and that a three-storey house was demolished despite its owner holding an interim court order.
- Public
- Resident Abdul Hamid Shahada told Middle East Eye the military stormed the area shortly after the attack and distributed a map designating homes for evacuation; "We watched them forcing families out of their homes; they even beat one of the men."
Still unverified
Displacement figures differ: PCHR cited about 500 families/2,500 people; Wafa reported 1,500 people evicted from Deir Baha and al-Jilda; the Guardian, citing Hebron officials, wrote 86 acres destroyed or marked for destruction and about 1,500 evicted by Saturday afternoon, with a municipality spokesperson putting evicted families at about 300; the city's governor and deputy mayor said at least 200 families had been displaced. It is also not clear whether the ongoing Hebron operation forms part of the larger operation Netanyahu said he had reviewed plans for.