Two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three at a temporary checkpoint outside Hebron on Friday. Within hours, the Israeli government announced a siege on the city and neighbouring Halhul, promised mass demolitions, and began destroying Palestinian homes — launching what officials explicitly framed as the extension of Gaza-style operations to the occupied West Bank. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich posted video of himself in front of a bulldozer demolishing a Palestinian home near the attack site. The home was described as built without permits; no connection between its owners and the attackers was claimed. Smotrich said the aim was to "create deterrence and exact a price." Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard called the video a "direct admission" of collective punishment, noting the doctrine has been used as a pretext since antiquity. Defence Minister Israel Katz drew the operational blueprint in plain language: "The Jenin refugee camp model arrives in Hebron. Every clan neighbourhood in Hebron from which the terrorists emerged today will be evacuated of its residents. Just like in Gaza, just like in Lebanon." The Jenin operation has already displaced nearly 20,000 people. Hebron, with approximately 250,000 residents, is the largest Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu announced plans for the largest military operation in the West Bank since 1967, when Israeli forces occupied the territory and forcibly displaced about 300,000 Palestinians. No date was set, but he pledged mass forced displacement, demolitions, and settlement expansion. Israel's high court issued a temporary order halting demolitions after lawyer Mohammed Dahleh filed an urgent petition arguing the actions violated international law on collective punishment and Israeli administrative law. The timing is inseparable from domestic politics. Israel holds elections Tuesday. The far-right coalition — which has backed settler expansion politically and financially — is polling to lose its majority. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also travelled to Hebron, demanding the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority and further restrictions on Palestinian movement. The attack and response function as campaign infrastructure for the far-right coalition. The information environment around the attack is already poisoned. Prominent Israelis, including a candidate for the far-right Amcha Yisrael party, accused an AFP photographer who witnessed the gunfight of links to the gunmen — without evidence. The Foreign Press Association called the claims "dangerous and defamatory," noting the photographer was en route to another assignment. This follows the severe injury of photographer Heidi Levine by settlers a week earlier and the denial of entry to several European journalists. Since October 7, 2023, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers. Settlement expansion and violence against Palestinians have surged, intensifying further during the annual olive harvest that began in late September. The Hebron operation represents the clearest formal merger of the Gaza destruction model with West Bank policy — not as exception but as stated doctrine.
