Israeli forces launched a mass demolition of Palestinian homes and businesses in Hebron. Local Palestinian authorities reported that Israeli troops levelled an entire neighbourhood in the city.
The Hebron municipality estimated that 35 hectares of land were destroyed or designated for destruction. Approximately 1,500 people were evicted from homes in Ein Deir Baha by Saturday afternoon, according to the Hebron municipality.
A spokesperson for the Hebron municipality stated that about 300 families were evicted. Checkpoints now seal off every entry point to the city of 250,000 people.
Wafa reported that Israel plans to displace an additional 2,500 people. Two gunmen attacked an Israeli military checkpoint outside Hebron on Friday, killing two soldiers and injuring three others.
Ein Deir Baha was allegedly the home district of the two gunmen. Benjamin Netanyahu and Bezalel Smotrich travelled to the site of the attack.
Netanyahu said he would "act to destroy this place." Smotrich called for "the immediate demolition of a wide row of illegal Arab structures adjacent to the attack site."
Smotrich also advocated for "a comprehensive military campaign … exactly like in Gaza and Lebanon." Issa Amro said, "We are being collectively punished for something we neither did nor supported."
Amro added that "Our suffering is being turned into political material for Israel’s elections, while innocent families pay the price." Amro noted that hundreds of families left their homes and were not connected to the events of Friday.
