Israeli troops have levelled a neighbourhood in Hebron in the occupied West Bank, driving out hundreds of families in what local Palestinian authorities describe as collective punishment for a militant attack on an army checkpoint outside the city. The Hebron municipality estimated that 35 hectares (86 acres) had been destroyed or marked for destruction and that about 1,500 people had been evicted from their homes by Saturday afternoon in the Ein Deir Baha district.
The whole city, home to around 250,000 people, was sealed off by checkpoints at every point of entry, restricting movement in and out of Hebron while the demolitions continued. The municipality's figures are reported from the Palestinian side and have not been independently verified in the material available to this newsroom. The military operation has been carried out in the district rather than at the site of the checkpoint attack, which took place outside the city.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed « to destroy this place » in retaliation for the attack, a statement that ties the demolitions directly to the militant assault on the checkpoint. The remarks have been reported as the stated rationale for the operation, and the material available to this newsroom does not include a detailed official account of the specific buildings targeted or the legal basis for their demolition.
For the families affected, the immediate consequences are displacement and the loss of homes within a few hours, with the sealing of the city compounding the disruption for residents across Hebron who were not in the demolition zone. Palestinian authorities have framed the operation as punishment of civilians for an attack they did not carry out, a characterisation the Israeli military has not been quoted addressing in the available reporting.
Hebron, one of the largest Palestinian cities in the West Bank, has long been a flashpoint between Israeli forces and Palestinian residents, with its old city and surrounding districts subject to repeated restrictions and clashes. The latest operation follows that pattern of confrontation in the city. Dominica 1 will update this report as further verified details, official statements and assessments of the humanitarian impact become available.
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