Israeli troops raze Hebron neighbourhood and evict 1,500 Palestinians
Israeli forces demolished or marked for destruction 35 hectares (86 acres) in Hebron’s Ein Deir Baha district, according to the Palestinian municipality, displacing about 1,500 residents from roughly 300 families. Images supplied by a resident showed homes flattened across several blocks, houses marked with black crosses and a residential building reportedly commandeered as a temporary military headquarters. The entire West Bank city of 250,000 was sealed at its entrances.
The operation followed Friday’s attack by two gunmen on an Israeli military checkpoint outside Hebron. A 20-minute firefight killed two Israeli soldiers and both attackers, while three other soldiers were injured. Israeli authorities alleged that the gunmen came from Ein Deir Baha.
Four days before Israeli elections, Benjamin Netanyahu visited the attack site and vowed to “destroy this place”. Bezalel Smotrich called for the immediate demolition of what he described as illegal Arab structures near the checkpoint and urged a broader campaign comparable to operations in Gaza and Lebanon. Displaced families were sheltering with relatives or in municipal community halls and children’s play areas, while Wafa reported plans that could uproot another 2,500 people. Civil rights activist Issa Amro described the measures as collective punishment of families unconnected to the attack.
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