Hebron residents face eviction and siege after checkpoint shootout
Israel sealed off the city of Hebron and ordered 250,000 people out of specific neighborhoods following the death of two soldiers in a 20-minute gunfight.
By Marta Price ·
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a siege on Hebron and the neighboring town of Halhul on Friday. The order came after gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers and injured three others near a checkpoint outside the city. Netanyahu stated that residents in the attackers' home neighborhoods would be forced to leave. He also promised mass demolitions of homes in those areas.
The first demolition began within hours of the attack. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician, posted a video showing a bulldozer tearing down a Palestinian home near the shooting site. He said the building lacked permits and that the destruction was intended to create deterrence and exact a price. No link was claimed between the home's owners and the gunmen.
Shortly after the bulldozers started working, Israel's high court issued a temporary order to halt the demolitions. Human rights lawyer Mohammed Dahleh filed an urgent petition on behalf of two nearby factory owners. He argued the action breached international law regarding collective punishment and Israeli administrative law. Dahleh said the move attempted to copy illegal practices used in Gaza in the heart of the West Bank.
Michael Sfard, a prominent Israeli lawyer, called Smotrich's video a direct admission that the demolitions were collective punishment. He noted that deterrence has been used to justify such punishments since antiquity. Defense Minister Israel Katz promised further mass demolitions and forced displacement. He explicitly compared the situation to the Jenin refugee camp, where nearly 20,000 people have been displaced.
Katz stated that every clan neighborhood in Hebron from which terrorists emerged would be evacuated of its residents. Hebron is the largest Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank, with a population of about 250,000. Netanyahu said plans were being drawn up for the largest military operation in the West Bank since 1967. He said no date had been set for the operation, but it was on the way.
The Israeli military said two men armed with an assault rifle and a handgun carried out the attack. They were driving a car with Israeli number plates and opened fire after being stopped at a temporary checkpoint. Both men were killed after a gunfight that lasted 20 minutes. An AFP photographer who witnessed the exchange saw two Palestinian men firing at Israeli forces from a handgun and an automatic rifle.
Prominent Israelis, including a candidate for the far-right Amcha Yisrael party, shared conspiracy theories linking the photographer to the gunmen. The Foreign Press Association described the claims as dangerous and defamatory. It noted the photographer is a longtime professional who documented events in keeping with his duties. This incident followed a week in which settlers severely injured photographer Heidi Levine while she documented olive harvests.
The West Bank has seen increased settlement expansion and violence against Palestinians since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023. More than 1,100 people have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in that period. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Hebron on Friday. He demanded the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority and tighter limits on Palestinian movement.
Source: The Guardian
