Netanyahu orders siege of Hebron after checkpoint attack

Two Israeli soldiers died and three others were wounded when gunmen opened fire at a temporary checkpoint outside Hebron on Friday. The attack triggered immediate military and political action, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing a siege of Hebron and the neighboring town of Halhul.

Netanyahu ordered that residents in the specific neighborhoods where the gunmen lived be forced out of their homes. He promised mass demolitions of structures in those areas. The first demolition began within hours of the shootout, as ministers visited the scene ahead of Tuesday's elections.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich posted a video showing a bulldozer tearing down a Palestinian home near the firing site. He stated the action was intended to create deterrence and exact a price. No link was claimed between the building owners and the attackers. The home had been constructed without permits.

Israel’s High Court issued a temporary order halting the demolitions shortly after work began. Human rights lawyer Mohammed Dahleh filed an urgent petition on behalf of two nearby factory owners. He argued the move breached international law on collective punishment and Israeli administrative law. Dahleh said the actions attempted to copy illegal practices used in Gaza.

Defence Minister Israel Katz promised further forced displacement and demolitions. He compared the situation in Hebron to the Jenin refugee camp, where nearly 20,000 people have been forced from their homes. Katz said every clan neighborhood from which the attackers emerged would be evacuated. Hebron is the largest Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank, with about 250,000 residents.

The Israeli military reported that two men armed with an assault rifle and a handgun carried out the attack. They drove a car with Israeli number plates and fired after soldiers stopped them. Both gunmen were killed in a gunfight that lasted 20 minutes. An AFP photographer witnessed the exchange while traveling to another assignment.

Prominent Israelis shared theories linking the photographer to the gunmen. The Foreign Press Association called the claims dangerous and defamatory. The episode followed a week in which settlers severely injured photographer Heidi Levine during the olive harvest. Since October 2023, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank.