Hebron Residents Evacuated Overnight After Reserve Base Attack

Israeli soldiers ordered families out of their Hebron homes over loudspeakers late at night, and Hebron's mayor, Yousef al-Ja'bari, said 2,200 people have since been driven from their residences. He reported hundreds of raids in the city since Friday, when two Palestinian gunmen attacked an Israeli army reserve base. Both gunmen and two Israeli soldiers were killed in that exchange.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then ordered what he called a "full lockdown" of the West Bank. By Saturday, al-Ja'bari said, nobody could enter or leave Hebron. Issa Amro, a Hebron-based activist and political analyst, said the 800,000 Palestinians living in the city and the wider Hebron governorate are "now under siege, with all entrances and exits closed since morning". He added: "Inside the city, there is no safe place for anyone to hide .. the city is really in fear."

Israeli forces operated in at least 15 West Bank locations on Saturday, including Jenin and Nablus in the north, Ramallah, Al-Bireh, Birzeit and occupied East Jerusalem in the centre, and Bethlehem in the south. The Palestinian Prisoners' Society said about 70 Palestinians were arrested during those raids. Al Jazeera journalists documenting bulldozing of homes and vehicles near the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint in Hebron were targeted by soldiers, who fired a stun grenade at them.

The Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, called the operations "collective punishment" and cited home demolitions, displacement of neighbourhoods and the closure of Palestinian cities, urging international intervention, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Hamas said in a statement that Israeli operations and settler activity "will only fuel further outrage".

Nour Odeh, Al Jazeera's West Bank correspondent, said Israeli politicians are trying to "capitalise" on the attack. She noted that Netanyahu, his Likud party and right-wing coalition allies trail in polls ahead of the October 27 parliamentary election, and are therefore "trying to put up a brave front, saying they're combating Palestinians". Netanyahu did not say whether he plans to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, but said a "big surprise" awaits the organization.