On Friday, two Palestinians carried out a shooting attack near Hebron's western entrance, killing two Israeli soldiers before being killed themselves. Within hours, Israeli bulldozers had demolished a 50-year-old ceramics factory, a marble factory, a three-storey house, and multiple commercial buildings in the Farsh al-Hawa area — all without prior warning. The owner, Sufyan al-Qawasmi, estimates losses of 60 million shekels ($19m). His businesses employed more than 70 people and exported goods to Israel itself. The demolitions were the opening move in a broader military operation. Israeli forces closed all entrances to Hebron, installed checkpoints, earthen berms, and concrete blocks, forcibly evacuated more than 3,000 Palestinians from their homes, and conducted raids and arrests across the city. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich framed the destruction as "establishing deterrence and exacting a price." Human rights groups classify such measures as collective punishment. The economic damage extends far beyond the demolished factories. Hebron contributes approximately 42 percent of Palestinian GDP and is home to more than 23,000 economic establishments, including over 5,000 industrial and artisanal facilities employing roughly 40,000 workers. The city's economy spans stone and marble, plastics, metals, food production, leather and footwear, and glass manufacturing. With all movement frozen, none of these sectors can function. The lockdown's effects cascade through everyday commerce. Ibrahim Ahmaro, a vegetable shop owner, was forced out by soldiers without time to activate refrigeration units. His entire stock spoiled over days of enforced absence. When he returned Sunday, soldiers attacked him inside the shop, eventually granting him minutes to remove a few crates — which he left in the street for locked-down residents to take. His losses: 50,000 shekels ($16,200). Saturday, typically the busiest trading day due to Palestinian citizens of Israel crossing to buy cheaper produce, was wiped out entirely. Economic expert Ali Oweiwi warned that the impact extends from retail to factories, suppliers, transport, and logistics. If the operation ends within days, recovery might be swift. If it persists beyond 10 days, the consequences compound: goods accumulate, transport chains break, and productivity declines as workers cannot reach workplaces. Separate demolitions of vehicle dismantling facilities, spare parts shops, and tile businesses have added an estimated 70-80 million shekels ($22.7m-$26m) in losses, plus the seizure of hundreds of vehicles. The timing compounds the political dimension. Israel holds pivotal parliamentary elections on Tuesday, and no end date for the Hebron lockdown has been announced. The operation's scale — destroying export-grade industry, shutting down a city that anchors nearly half of Palestinian economic output — far exceeds any plausible security rationale tied to a single shooting incident. The Israeli settlement already embedded in Hebron's commercial centre had already severely disrupted Palestinian movement and trade before Friday's escalation. What is being constructed here is not deterrence but economic destruction as policy. A 50-year-old factory that exported to Israel is now rubble. Workers who sustained families are jobless. A city that generated wealth for an entire national economy is sealed and paralysed. The two attackers are dead. The price is being extracted from everyone else.
