Israeli forces seal Hebron after checkpoint attack kills two soldiers

Israeli military forces sealed the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday night following a gun attack at a checkpoint that killed two soldiers. The operation has displaced nearly 2,000 residents and placed the city of 250,000 at the center of the national election campaign just two days before the vote.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visited the scene shortly after the attack. They promised swift retribution and warned of military operations on a scale not seen in the West Bank in nearly 60 years. Their ruling coalition is currently trailing in polls, and the security push is seen as a test of their credentials for voters.

Within hours of the attack, the Farsh al-Hawa neighborhood was flattened. By Sunday morning, bulldozers had reduced an industrial area containing car workshops and a large ceramics plant to rubble. In a separate district a few kilometers away, residents of Ein Deir Baha were ordered to leave their homes.

The Hebron municipality stated that 370 families were displaced by the sweep. The Israeli army said residents left voluntarily and that civilians were permitted to evacuate temporarily. Fahed Ahmaro, the local imam, rejected that account. He was woken at midnight by loudspeakers on patrolling vehicles ordering homeowners to leave for their safety. Thirty members of his family lived in the house. Ahmaro took his mother and grandchildren to his daughter's home and said, "You don't know what you have until you lose it."

Abdul Halim al-Tamimi, 77, said the military arrived at his home at 1:30 a.m. and gave his family 10 minutes to leave. An intelligence officer warned that if they refused, they would be displaced in the manner seen in Gaza. The family was forced out at 3:00 a.m. By Sunday, their villa was draped in Israeli flags and used as a headquarters.

The army stated that about 2,000 locals belonged to the Jaba'a clan, which it associated with Hamas. Residents of Ein Deir Baha countered that the clan numbers at most 150 people and has no known reputation for radicalism. Al-Tamimi suggested the operation served election publicity.

By Sunday evening, all roads in and out of Hebron remained closed to cars behind steel barriers. Only pedestrians could move through the city. Delivery truck driver Wasam Sadi arrived at a checkpoint with a smashed windshield after settlers attacked him at a nearby junction. Mayor Yousef al-Jabari called the measures collective punishment and said the media had been kept out of the district. Palestinians in the West Bank cannot vote on Tuesday, but the election outcome will affect their lives.