Hebron Municipality Reports 1,500 Displaced After Troops Raze 35 Hectares

Israeli troops have leveled the Ein Deir Baha district in the West Bank city of Hebron, displacing approximately 1,500 residents as of Saturday afternoon. Local Palestinian authorities described the military sweep as a response to a militant attack on an army checkpoint outside the city.

The Hebron municipality stated that 35 hectares of land in the district had been destroyed or marked for destruction. The city, which has a population of 250,000, was sealed off with checkpoints established at every point of entry. A municipality spokesperson confirmed that roughly 300 families had been evicted from their homes.

The operation follows a shooting incident on Friday in which two gunmen attacked an Israeli military checkpoint. A 20-minute gunfight resulted in the death of two Israeli soldiers and injuries to three others. Both gunmen were killed during the exchange. Authorities alleged that the attackers originated from the Ein Deir Baha district.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visited the checkpoint site following the attack. Netanyahu stated that Israel would act to destroy the area. Smotrich, who is running for election with a smaller coalition party, ordered the immediate demolition of structures adjacent to the attack site. He was filmed in body armor during the demolition and called for a comprehensive military campaign similar to operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

Residents documented the destruction through video, showing urban blocks reduced to rubble and soldiers marking houses with black crosses. One large residential building belonging to a prominent local family was draped in Israeli flags and used as a temporary military headquarters. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israel plans to displace an additional 2,500 people from the area.

Issa Amro, a civil rights activist in Hebron, stated that his sister's family was among those driven from their homes. He described the operation as collective punishment for an event that most residents neither committed nor supported. Amro noted that hundreds of displaced families had no connection to the Friday attack. He suggested the demolition might serve as election propaganda or as part of a longer-term strategy decided by the government.

The Israeli army was contacted for comment regarding the scope of the destruction and the videos circulating from the site. National elections in Israel are scheduled to take place in four days.