West Bankupdated 52m ago2 min read
Israel Launches Major Hebron Operation After Shooting Kills Two Soldiers, Netanyahu Orders House-to-House
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Two Israeli soldiers killed near Hebron; Palestinian gunmen shot dead. Netanyahu orders major West Bank operation with house-to-house searches and displacement.
One story. Different accounts.
The Guardian“Israel has launched a campaign of collective punishment against Palestinians in Hebron”
The Times of Israel“The IDF said the raid was ‘focused and limited to the area from which the terrorists operated,’”
Explore source coverage 5 source types
Directory totals describe our source library, not outlets checked for this story.
NBC News was read line by line by the Watchdog: 5.7. See the score →
Operation After Checkpoint Attack
Israel launched a major operation in the occupied West Bank after a shooting attack at an Israeli military checkpoint near Hebron killed two Israeli soldiers and left three other soldiers lightly injured. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces would go “house-to-house” in the Hebron neighbourhood where the suspected attackers came from, and he said the operation would include demolitions and forced displacement. Israel’s military announced that a major “counterterrorism” operation involving Israeli soldiers, police and other security agents was under way in the Hebron area and said it would last “several days”.
By Saturday morning, Israeli forces had raided at least 15 towns in the northern West Bank, including Nablus, Jenin, Tubas and Qalqilya, arresting dozens of Palestinians, according to Al Jazeera correspondents. Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh reported that “Hebron is sealed off; seven district entrances are closed,” with only “one or two” allowing some pedestrian traffic at times and with the Hebron municipality saying up to half of the neighbourhood attacked overnight had been forcibly displaced.
Netanyahu, B’Tselem, and Hamas
Netanyahu told troops they would “evacuate the residents and go from house to house” in the neighbourhood where the attackers lived, and he said the forces would dismantle the terror infrastructure. B’Tselem warned that the Israeli government’s planned offensive amounts to “collective punishment and acts that could constitute war crimes,” and it urged international pressure to prevent forcible displacement in Hebron. Hamas described the incident as a “heroic operation” and called on Palestinians in the West Bank to achieve a “total mobilization” and to carry out similar attacks.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for dismantling the Palestinian Authority and said, “We should not wait for an October 7 in Judea and Samaria.” Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged launching a military campaign in the West Bank “like in Gaza” to “dismantle the Palestinian Authority, confiscate the weapons and eliminate the terrorists.”
Displacement, Arrests, and What Comes Next
Israel’s military said it was launching a targeted campaign in the Hebron area and that it would involve demolitions and raids in addition to mass arrests across “dozens” of other areas across the West Bank. Al Jazeera reported that the Hebron municipality told correspondents that “up to half of the neighbourhood attacked overnight by Israeli soldiers in Hebron has been forcibly displaced,” and it said “At least 200 families are now forced to be outside their homes.” The Times of Israel said Netanyahu ordered a full lockdown of the West Bank and said Israeli troops would conduct “extensive waves of arrests” and pursue Hamas fighters “wherever they are and at all times”.
CNN reported that Netanyahu ordered the evacuation of residents from the Hebron neighbourhood where the gunmen lived ahead of a house-to-house sweep for weapons, and it said the IDF imposed “a full siege” on the city of Hebron. B’Tselem’s executive director Yuli Novak said, “Netanyahu and (Israeli defense minister, Israel) Katz have declared their intention to empty a Palestinian neighborhood in Hebron,” warning of mass displacement and destruction in the wake of the operation.