25 Oct 2026
Hebron (QNN)- Israeli forces have launched a large-scale military assault on Hebron in the occupied West Bank, forcibly displacing Palestinian families, demolishing buildings, arresting residents and imposing sweeping movement restrictions after killing two Palestinians on Friday.
The assault, which began on Friday, has expanded beyond Hebron, with Israeli forces carrying out raids across the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israeli forces will implement the “offensive model that we successfully carried out in the refugee camps”.
The Israeli forces expelled the residents of Tulkarem, Nur Shams, and Jenin refugee camps in January and February 2025 during a large-scale assault, which resulted in the largest mass displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967. Israeli War Minister Israel Katz said the displacement would last one year. But over twenty months later, according to the United Nations, more than 33,000 Palestinian refugees remain displaced from the homes in the refugee camps they were living in.
Netanyahu said the forces “will enter the neighbourhoods from which the attackers came, evacuate the residents, go house to house” and destroy the area.
“We are prepared for a large-scale operation in the West Bank,” he added.
Netanyahu also said the assault in the occupied West Bank will be unlike any other since 1967, when Israel seized control of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
“I have reviewed a very extensive operation in the West Bank that will be unprecedented since ’67, and we will choose the timing of its implementation,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich released a statement saying that a “comprehensive military operation” in the occupied West Bank is “necessary” to kill Palestinians and “dismantle the Palestinian Authority”.
Smotrich has also ordered the demolition of a large number of Palestinian buildings near the site of the operation in Hebron, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.
By Saturday, around 1,200 Palestinians had been displaced from their homes in Hebron, according to a Palestinian official cited by Reuters.
What is happening in Hebron?
Israeli forces have raided the al-Jalda and Ein Deir Bahha neighbourhoods, forcing families to leave their homes as troops and military bulldozers raided residential areas.
Residents have been given little time to collect their belongings before evacuating. Dozens of families were forced to spend the night outside, while the Hebron municipality began arranging temporary shelter for displaced residents.
Israeli bulldozers have also demolished buildings, including a three-storey structure in the city. In the Farsh al-Hawa area, residents were ordered to evacuate ahead of demolitions.
The assault has also involved home raids, searches and arrests. Israeli forces have detained dozens of people during the campaign, while roads and entrances to Hebron and surrounding communities were closed.
Hebron Mayor Yousef al-Jaabari warned that further displacement could follow, with additional families at risk of losing their homes as the military operation continues.
Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem warned that the planned offensive could amount to collective punishment and involve acts that may constitute war crimes.
The assault has coincided with a sweeping closure of the occupied West Bank, restricting movement between Palestinian cities, towns and villages.
Israeli forces have raided at least 15 towns in the northern West Bank, including Nablus, Jenin, Tubas and Qalqilya, while detaining dozens of Palestinians.
The closures have disrupted access to healthcare, education and other essential services.
The assault on Hebron comes amid continued rise in Israeli military raids, settlement expansion, settler attacks and forced displacement across the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority said on Saturday that more than 40,000 Palestinians had been forcibly displaced from their homes since the beginning of 2025 as a result of Israeli raids and settler violence.
The Israeli military has said the assault will last several days.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz promised further mass demolitions and forced displacement. He drew an explicit comparison with Gaza and said Hebron would be targeted in the same way as Jenin refugee camp. Hebron is the largest Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank, with about 250,000 residents.
Katz said: “The Jenin refugee camp model arrives in Hebron. Every clan neighbourhood in Hebron from which the terrorists emerged today will be evacuated of its residents. Just like in Gaza, just like in Lebanon.”
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“Reprinted from…” https://countercurrents.org/2026/10/israel-escalates-its-assault-on-hebron-what-is-happening/