Smotrich Shows Bulldozer at Hebron Home Site Before Court Halts Work

Within hours of a gunfight that killed two Israeli soldiers, a Palestinian home in Hebron was torn down by a bulldozer.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich filmed the destruction and posted the video. He stated the action was designed to create deterrence and exact a price. The building had been constructed without permits. Officials did not claim a connection between the home owners and the gunmen.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a siege on Hebron and the neighboring town of Halhul. He ordered that residents in the attackers' home neighborhoods be forced out. He promised further mass demolitions. Hebron is the largest Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank, with approximately 250,000 residents.

Defense Minister Israel Katz reinforced the directive. He compared the planned treatment of Hebron to the Jenin refugee camp, where nearly 20,000 people have been displaced. Katz declared that every clan neighborhood from which the terrorists emerged would be evacuated. He said plans were being drawn up for the largest military operation in the West Bank since 1967.

Israel's high court issued a temporary order halting the demolitions shortly after the work began. Human rights lawyer Mohammed Dahleh filed the urgent petition on behalf of two factory owners near the site. Dahleh argued the demolition breached international law on collective punishment and Israeli administrative law. He described the move as an attempt to copy illegal practices used in Gaza, in the heart of the West Bank.

Michael Sfard, a leading Israeli lawyer, called Smotrich's video a direct admission that the demolitions amounted to collective punishment. He noted that deterrence has been used as a justification for such punishment since antiquity.

The Israeli military stated that two men armed with an assault rifle and a handgun carried out the attack. They drove a car with Israeli number plates and opened fire after soldiers stopped them at a temporary checkpoint outside Hebron. Both gunmen were killed after a 20-minute gunfight. Three other soldiers were wounded.

An AFP photographer witnessed the exchange while en route to another assignment. She observed two Palestinian men firing at Israeli forces with a handgun and an automatic rifle. Prominent Israelis, including a candidate for the far-right Amcha Yisrael party, later shared conspiracy theories linking the photographer to the gunmen. The Foreign Press Association called the claims dangerous and defamatory, describing the photographer as a longtime professional.

The incident occurred a week after settlers severely injured photographer Heidi Levine while she documented attacks on Palestinians harvesting olives. Since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the occupied West Bank. Attacks have intensified since the olive harvest began in late September. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir traveled to Hebron on Friday, demanding the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority and tighter limits on Palestinian movement. Polls suggest the governing far-right coalition may lose its majority in Tuesday's elections.