West Bank Displacement: 2,000 Evicted from Hebron After Checkpoint Attack

Residents of Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank, lost their homes and businesses this weekend as Israeli military forces moved to secure the area following a deadly attack. The displacement affected nearly 2,000 people, according to the local municipality, and transformed a once-bustling industrial zone into rubble.

The operations began after two Israeli soldiers were killed in a gun attack at a military checkpoint on Friday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visited the site on television, warning of military operations on a scale not seen in nearly 60 years of occupation. Their coalition is trailing in polls with only two days of campaigning remaining before Tuesday's vote.

Within hours of the attack, the city of 250,000 was sealed off. In the Farsh al-Hawa neighborhood, closest to the checkpoint, bulldozers flattened an industrial area that housed car workshops and a ceramics plant. By Sunday morning, only debris remained of the businesses.

In the Ein Deir Baha district, families were ordered to leave their homes. Fahed Ahmaro, a local imam, was woken at midnight by loudspeakers on military vehicles demanding residents depart for their safety. Thirty members of his family lived in the house. He moved his frail mother and grandchildren to a relative's home, only to find that soldiers had blown up his gates while he was returning for belongings. He described his uncertainty about the length of the exile while shopping for clothes on Sunday.

Abdul Halim al-Tamimi, 77, said the military arrived at 1:30 a.m. and gave his family 10 minutes to pack. An intelligence officer told them that if they refused, they would be displaced like families in Gaza. The family was forced out at 3 a.m. and found their villa draped in Israeli flags and used as an army headquarters by Sunday morning.

The Israeli army stated that residents left voluntarily and that about 2,000 locals belonged to the Jaba'a clan, which it associated with Hamas. Residents rejected this account, noting the clan has at most 150 members and no known radical reputation. The Hebron municipality confirmed 370 families were displaced. By Sunday evening, all roads in and out of the city were closed to cars, and Mayor Yousef al-Jabari labeled the measures collective punishment.

The outcome of Tuesday's vote will not allow West Bank residents to cast ballots, but the political stakes in Hebron remain high. Delivery drivers reported attacks at checkpoints, and the city remained under a strict security perimeter.