The IDF says the operation will last several days, following the killing of two soldiers in a shooting attack. Netanyahu said the army had prepared an operation in the West Bank on a scale 'not seen since the Six-Day War'
IDF soldiers patrol the area where the houses of the two Palestinian gunmen, who killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others, in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday. Credit: AFP/HAZEM BADER
By Jack Khoury and Matan Golan 24 October 2026 Haaretz
Approximately 250 Palestinian families were evacuated from their homes overnight from Friday into Saturday in the Hebron neighborhood where the two Palestinians who carried out Friday's shooting attack lived, the city's deputy mayor, Khaled Fahed al-Qawasmi, told Haaretz.
As part of the Israeli military operation launched in the city, the families were allowed to take only essential belongings with them, al-Qawasmi said. Some went to a reception center opened by the municipality, while others are staying with relatives. He added that Israeli forces had begun demolishing structures in the area.
Hebron Mayor Yousef al-Jaabari told Palestinian media that the removals were concentrated in al-Jalda and Deir Bahah, two of the city's most densely populated areas in the city.
IDF deploy at the scene following a fire exchange with two armed Palestinian men at the northern checkpoint of Hebron, West Bank on Friday. Credit: AFP/HAZEM BADER
Israeli settlers continued to force Palestinian farmers off their land over the weekend. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported Saturday morning that settlers had attacked and wounded Palestinian farmers west of Hebron.
Settlers also attacked olive pickers near Beit Iksa, south of Ramallah, according to Palestinian reports. One Palestinian was affected by pepper spray, and security forces at the scene arrested several farmers, the reports said. On the outskirts of the village of Sinjil, settlers also harassed olive pickers and forced them off their land.
The reports came a day after Palestinian media reported the establishment of three new settler farms in the West Bank in the wake of Friday's shooting attack.
IDF soldiers gather by the bodies of two armed Palestinian men after a fire exchange at the northern checkpoint of Hebron, West Bank, on Friday. Credit: AFP/HAZEM BADER
The IDF began the operation Friday night, after two Palestinian assailants from Hebron, identified as Firas and Hamouda al-Jaaba, killed two soldiers, Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, and wounded three others. The military said it killed the two assailants after a brief manhunt.
The IDF said the operation was expected to last several days. The military blocked entry to and exit from Hebron and the nearby town of Halhul. According to the military, troops are searching for people suspected of involvement in terrorism and for weapons, while questioning suspects. Residents will be allowed to leave through three designated exits, after questioning and security screening.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks to the press at the scene of a fire exchange between Palestinians and IDF soldiers, at the northern checkpoint of Hebron, West Bank, Friday. Credit: AFP/AHMAD GHARABLI
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after the attack that a large-scale operation was expected following the soldiers' deaths. He said that the military would search every home in the neighborhood where the shooters lived and remove the residents from them.
"We will also remove the weapons there, and all terrorist infrastructure will be dealt with and destroyed," Netanyahu said at the scene of the shooting.
He said the IDF had prepared a plan for a broad operation in the West Bank on a scale "not seen since the Six-Day War." The military was ready to carry it out, he said, adding that the government would determine the timing but that the operation was approaching.
Defense Minister Israel Katz also invoked the displacement of residents from West Bank refugee camps as a model for the operation in Hebron. "The Jenin refugee camp model arrives in Hebron," he wrote. "The whole clan neighborhood in Hebron from which the terrorists emerged today will be emptied of its residents, and the terror infrastructure in the neighborhood will be addressed and dismantled."
"This is the only language that jihadist terrorism understands. Just like in Gaza, just like in Lebanon," Katz added.
An Israeli soldier looks on at the scene of an earlier fire exchange between armed Palestinians and IDF forces, at the northern checkpoint of Hebron, West Bank, Friday. Credit: AFP/AHMAD GHARABLI
The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem condemned the announced displacement plans. Its director, Yuli Novak, said in a statement: "Israel is announcing its next crimes in advance. Netanyahu and Katz have declared their intention to empty a Palestinian neighborhood in Hebron and repeat the mass displacement and destruction inflicted on the northern West Bank refugee camps."
"Hebron is already under military cordon, and demolitions have begun near the attack site. This is the Elimination Project in plain sight. Governments have been warned. They must act now to prevent another wave of ethnic cleansing and war crimes," Novak said.
Earlier, the Civil Administration announced that it had begun demolishing dozens of structures near the scene of the shooting in Hebron. Residents said forces had demolished three buildings that were already subject to demolition orders before the attack.
Business owners in the area petitioned the High Court of Justice, which issued an interim order instructing the military to freeze the demolition of businesses near the site of the shooting.
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