Israeli army operation in Hebron displaces more than 2,600, municipality says

Mixed · 2The Israeli military pressed ahead on Sunday 25 October 2026 with a large operation in the occupied West Bank, focused on Hebron, in response to a gun attack on Friday that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three. 1 2 Right · 1The Hebron municipality said the operation had displaced more than 2,600 people, and municipal officials said families had left nearly 500 apartments in Deir Bahha and surrounding neighbourhoods. 1 Left · 1Al Jazeera's video report put the figure at more than 2,000 Palestinians forced from their homes and said the lockdown of the West Bank had lasted beyond 50 hours. 3

Right · 1Hebron Mayor Yousef Zuhair Al-Jabari said all entrances and exits to the city remained sealed, with the operation focused in Deir Bahha and Al-Jalda, and that the blockade was closing businesses and had shuttered a mosque. 1 Right · 1The military said it operated in more than 400 locations over the weekend and arrested 40 Palestinians it said were affiliated with Hamas or Islamic Jihad; no militant group has claimed the attack. 1 Right · 1The army said it warned residents to evacuate Deir Bahha, the suspected gunmen's neighbourhood, and that it found weapons in the gunmen's car, saying they were likely planning to attack Israeli civilians before being stopped at a checkpoint. 1

Right · 1New restrictions bar most Palestinian workers with permits from entering Israeli West Bank settlements on Sunday and Monday, and crossings into Israel are to stay closed until after the election on Tuesday. 1 Right · 1The army declined to say how long the operation would last; displaced resident Shadi Al-Qawasmi said the army had told residents the area would be closed for 12 days, and speculated that the election or "some political matter" might be a factor. 1 Right · 1The operation came in the final days before an election seen largely as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership and security policies, and AP reported he is under pressure to show a strong response to attackers; he visited the attack site and vowed a forceful reply. 1

Right · 1Six Israelis have been killed in West Bank attacks this year, and 112 Palestinians, including the suspected gunmen, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. 1 Left · 1Hebron is the only West Bank city where Jewish settlers live in the heart of a densely populated Palestinian area under Israeli military protection, and the international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlements illegal. 2