Israel’s Hebron operation entered its eighth day on Friday, Oct. 30, as troops blew up the family homes of the two Palestinian gunmen who killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint at the entrance to the West Bank city on Oct. 23. The offensive has forced thousands of Palestinians from their homes, Reuters reported, and drawn a UN warning about possible ethnic cleansing.
The Israel Defense Forces said troops razed the two homes, The Times of Israel reported. In announcing the demolitions, the military said it would “continue to operate proactively and offensively.”
What happened in the Hebron operation this week
On Oct. 23, two gunmen opened fire on soldiers at the checkpoint, killing Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem of the Home Front Command’s 775th “Ari” Battalion and wounding three others. Both attackers were shot dead after a gunfight of about 20 minutes. The Boston Report covered the attack in its Oct. 23 report on the Hebron shooting.
That night the army launched what it called a counterterrorism operation with the Shin Bet and Border Police, describing it as “focused and limited to the area from which the terrorists operated,” The Times of Israel reported. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “destroy” the shooters’ entire neighborhood. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he had ordered demolitions to “create deterrence and exact a price.”
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Hebron, Mohammed al-Atrash, reported that army engineers spent at least nine hours inside the two homes before detonating them, that at least 12 Palestinians were detained when residents approached afterward, and that the Ein Deir Bahha neighborhood had been emptied, with some homes “turned into military barracks.” Hundreds of families in the neighboring al-Jalda area remained confined to their homes, he said, and on Friday dozens of displaced residents protested near the closed al-Jalda roundabout, demanding to go home.
Displacement figures and what they show
| Measure | Figure | Source (date) |
|---|---|---|
| People displaced | 4,969 from 780 families | Hebron municipality via Al Jazeera (Oct. 27) |
| People evacuated and receiving aid | More than 3,000 | UN OCHA (Oct. 27) |
| Palestinians arrested | At least 120 | Al Jazeera correspondent (Oct. 30) |
| Businesses demolished near checkpoint | At least 13 | Al Jazeera correspondent (Oct. 30) |
Counts differ by source and date; none has been independently verified in full. Table: The Boston Report.
The estimates do not match. The municipality’s figure is about 66% higher than OCHA’s “more than 3,000,” by a TBR calculation; the two counts come from different bodies using different methods. The municipality’s count implies an average of about 6.4 people per displaced family.
The operation comes amid a wider rise in settler violence. Israel’s military recorded 867 incidents of nationalistic crime and settler violence in 2025, up from 682 in 2024, The Times of Israel reported.
That is an increase of 185 incidents, or 27%, by a TBR calculation. OCHA says more than 2,000 settler attacks causing casualties or damage have been recorded so far in 2026, more than in any previous year, though its method differs from the IDF’s.
UN rights chief warns of collective punishment
UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Oct. 27 that the steps “raise grave concerns of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force” and that “threats to empty and erase entire neighbourhoods also raise serious concerns of ethnic cleansing,” the UN reported. “Collective punishment is a grave violation of international law,” he said. Türk said declarations by senior Israeli officials indicated the measures were “punitive in nature and designed to instil fear.” Hamas called the demolitions part of a systematic campaign against Palestinians Unverified claim, Hamas statement (Hamas). The Israeli military describes the operation as a counterterrorism effort focused on the area the attackers came from.
The operation continues as coalition talks follow Israel’s Oct. 27 election, which we covered in our election-day report. Watch whether displaced families are allowed back, whether demolitions extend into Area C as Al Jazeera reported officials had threatened, and whether the army declares the operation over.
Sources
- Reuters via Arab News: Israel demolishes gunmen’s homes in West Bank operation
- The Times of Israel: Israel razes homes of gunmen who carried out deadly Hebron shooting attack
- The Times of Israel: IDF launches major op in Hebron after two soldiers killed
- Al Jazeera: Israel demolishes homes of Palestinians blamed for attack on soldiers
- United Nations in Palestine: Hebron crackdown displaces thousands, Türk warns
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