HEBRON: Israeli forces began demolishing Palestinian homes in Hebron on Friday after Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others in an attack in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli officials and a Reuters report.
The gunmen were shot dead by Israeli troops, the military said. The incident prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to threaten a major military operation in the territory days before Israel’s election.
Netanyahu visited the site of the attack and said the military would evacuate Palestinians from a Hebron neighbourhood where he claimed the attackers had originated.
He compared the proposed operation to Israeli assaults on two Palestinian refugee camps in 2025, which displaced tens of thousands of people. Human Rights Watch said those expulsions amounted to war crimes.
“We will evacuate the residents, we will go house-to-house, we will also confiscate the weapons there, and all terrorist infrastructures will be dealt with and destroyed,” Netanyahu said.
Following his remarks, a Reuters reporter saw Israeli bulldozers beginning to demolish homes near the shooting site in Hebron. Local residents said the houses targeted for demolition had no connection to the attackers.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The attack occurred amid escalating violence in the West Bank, including attacks by Israeli settlers, following the Hamas-led attacks on Israel in October 2023 that triggered the war in Gaza.