WorldPosted at: Oct 24 2026 8:36PM


IDF operation in West Bank's Hebron city displaces 1,500 Palestinians overnight ahead of Knesset elections

Hebron, Oct 24 (UNI) An ongoing Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Hebron has displaced around 1,500 Palestinians since Friday's shooting attack that killed two Israeli soldiers, according to Palestinian officials.
More than 200 families have been forced from their homes, with dozens spending the night outdoors, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Saturday, citing Hebron Governor Khaled Dudin.
The governorate has declared a state of emergency and is setting up a crisis management committee to assist displaced families.
Hebron Mayor Youssef al-Jaabari told WAFA that Israeli forces were preparing to displace another 2,500 people from two areas of the city.
The IDF did not immediately comment on the reported displacement but said its operation was expected to last several days and would remain "focused and limited to the area from which the terrorists operated".
The military said residents in the affected neighbourhoods could leave through three designated exit points after questioning and security checks. Anyone raising suspicion during the checks would be taken for further questioning, it added.
In Ein Dir Baha, a neighbourhood between two hills, buildings had been marked with Xs to indicate that they had been cleared of residents. Streets were largely deserted, apart from Israeli military vehicles, and an Israeli flag hung from a house apparently occupied by troops.
Higazi Shawer al-Tamimi, a 70-year-old shopkeeper who sells live chickens and animal feed and holds a leadership role in the neighbourhood, told reporters that soldiers woke him at 1am and ordered him and other residents to leave.
He said he had only two hours to pack clothes and official documents. Many families without vehicles were left scrambling to find accommodation with relatives elsewhere.
Tamimi accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of using the operation for political gains ahead of Tuesday's national election.
"This is happening because Netanyahu wants to win," he said. "He wants to win it with the blood of the Palestinian people. But we won't go anywhere."
The Israeli operation followed a shooting attack on Friday in which two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a temporary military checkpoint near Hebron, killing two soldiers and wounding three others in a gunfight that lasted more than 20 minutes. Israeli troops killed both attackers.
The soldiers were identified as Staff Sgt Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, from Ashkelon, and Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, from Hod Hasharon.
The gunmen were identified as Mohammad Jaaba and Firas Jaaba, both 27-year-old Hebron residents and members of the same family. The IDF said its preliminary investigation indicated that they had intended to attack Israeli civilians on a nearby road but opened fire at the checkpoint after realising they could not reach the highway.
Netanyahu said on Friday that Israel would "destroy" the neighbourhood from which the gunmen came, adopting what he described as the "successful and aggressive model" used in West Bank refugee camps that Israel considers strongholds of armed groups.
Israeli forces have been operating in several refugee camps in the northern West Bank since last year, preventing tens of thousands of residents from returning to their homes. The military has said the operations target areas used by armed groups.
The Hebron operation has so far affected around a third of the city, according to the report.
Netanyahu also hinted at a wider military campaign in an interview with i24 News late on Friday, saying a "big surprise" was in store for the Palestinian Authority (PA), which administers parts of the West Bank under arrangements established by the 1990s peace accords.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, whose far-right party has been gaining support in polls ahead of Tuesday's election, has called for Israel to dismantle the PA.
Asked whether he supported that proposal, Netanyahu said he had resisted pressure from three US presidents to work towards establishing a Palestinian state.
"I will act to neutralise that threat by means I think are better left unspecified right now," he said of the PA.
Referring to Israeli military operations in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, Netanyahu added "We transformed the Middle East. I said that we would change things and we have."
"There is a very big surprise for the Palestinian Authority as well," he said.
As of now, there is no evidence that the PA was involved in Friday's shooting.
Netanyahu has linked the gunmen to Hamas, which carried out the October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel. While the Hamas praised Friday's shooting, it stopped short of claiming responsibility over the incident, and called for further attacks.
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