Saturday 24 October 2026
Israeli forces push up to 300 families out of Hebron neighborhoods and raid areas across the West Bank, a day after two soldiers were killed
Israeli forces carried out arrests and demolitions in Hebron on Saturday and forced residents out of Deir Baha and two adjacent neighborhoods. Hebron municipality counted up to 300 families displaced, the Times of Israel reported about 1,500 people displaced as of October 24, and the city mayor said about 2,200 people had been forced from their homes. Forces also raided at least 15 areas across the West Bank, and the Palestinian Prisoners Society said about 70 Palestinians were arrested. The Palestinian Authority called for international pressure on Israel.
The army operation that began in Hebron on Friday widened on Saturday, one day after two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near the city. The soldiers were Staff Sergeant Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, and Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem, 20. Three more soldiers were wounded. Soldiers shot both gunmen dead at the scene.
Picture is an illustration of families leaving a Hebron neighborhood past a closed checkpoint at dusk.
On Saturday, Israeli forces carried out arrests and demolitions in Hebron and pushed residents out of Deir Baha and two adjacent neighborhoods, the Associated Press reported. The army said on Friday that its forces had begun conducting precise, targeted and thorough searches in the area the gunmen came from. The army did not answer Associated Press questions about the operation on Saturday.
The counts of the displaced differ by source, and they were still moving on Saturday. Hebron municipality counted up to 300 families who had left the three neighborhoods. The Times of Israel reported that the operation had displaced some 1,500 Palestinians as of October 24, with thousands more expected to be ordered to leave. Hebron mayor Yousef al Jabari put the figure higher, at about 2,200 people forced from their homes, and he said residents could neither enter nor leave the city on Saturday.
The raids reached well beyond Hebron. Forces entered at least 15 areas of the West Bank on Saturday, among them Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem and occupied East Jerusalem, and the Palestinian Prisoners Society said about 70 Palestinians were arrested. The Palestinian Authority foreign ministry called on the world to put pressure on Israel, saying that confronting the growing threats of forced displacement and destruction requires urgent international action that goes beyond condemnation, and it described the operation as collective punishment.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a full closure of the West Bank on Friday, running at least through the Israeli election on Tuesday, October 27. The Hebron operation is set to last several days, which means it will still be running on election day, in the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank, three days before Israelis vote.
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