Israeli Forces Seal Hebron, Court Halts Demolitions

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a siege of Hebron and the neighboring town of Halhul after two soldiers were killed at a checkpoint outside the city. Netanyahu said residents of the gunmen's home neighborhoods would be forced out and that mass demolitions would follow. The first house came down within hours of the firefight. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich filmed himself standing beside a bulldozer as it tore through a Palestinian home near the site of the shooting. He said the building lacked permits and that tearing it down would "create deterrence and exact a price." No link was claimed between the owners of that house and the attackers.

The Israeli high court issued a temporary order halting the demolitions shortly after the work began. Human rights lawyer Mohammed Dahleh filed an urgent petition on behalf of two nearby factory owners, arguing that the demolitions breached international law on collective punishment as well as Israeli administrative law. "What we saw today was an attempt to copy the illegal practices used in Gaza, in the heart of the West Bank," Dahleh said. Michael Sfard, an Israeli lawyer, called Smotrich's video a "direct admission" that the demolitions amounted to collective punishment.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said more demolitions and forced displacement would follow. He compared the plan to Jenin, where nearly 20,000 people have left their homes. "Every clan neighborhood in Hebron from which the terrorists emerged today will be evacuated of its residents," Katz said. Hebron holds about 250,000 residents and is the largest Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu said military planners had drawn up the largest operation in the West Bank since 1967. No date was set, he said, "but it is on the way".

The Israeli military said two men armed with an assault rifle and a handgun opened fire after soldiers stopped their car, which carried Israeli number plates, at a temporary checkpoint outside Hebron. The gunfight lasted 20 minutes and both attackers were killed. An AFP photographer traveling to another assignment watched two Palestinian men with a handgun and an automatic rifle fire on Israeli forces.

Prominent Israelis, including a candidate for the far-right Amcha Yisrael party, circulated conspiracy theories claiming links between that photographer and the gunmen. The Foreign Press Association said it was deeply alarmed and called the claims "dangerous and defamatory." It described the photographer as a longtime professional who documented events as part of his duties. The episode followed a week in which settlers severely injured photographer Heidi Levine as she documented attacks on Palestinians harvesting olives.

Violence in the occupied West Bank has risen since 7 October 2023, with more than 1,100 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or settlers. Attacks have picked up since the olive harvest began in late September. Polls show the governing far-right coalition, which backs settlers, could lose its majority in Tuesday's election. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir traveled to Hebron on Friday and called for the Palestinian Authority to be dismantled and for tighter limits on Palestinian movement.