IDF clears Hebron neighborhood ahead of demolition of militants' homes
The Jerusalem Post reported that on 30 October the Israeli Defense Forces evacuated a neighborhood in Hebron’s Ein Deir Baha district as they prepared to demolish the homes of the two militants who had killed two soldiers, and the regional council announced plans for new settlement outposts in the area. Earlier, after a Hamas-linked shooting near Hebron on 24 October wounded five people, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a full lockdown of Hebron and a West Bank travel ban (Jerusalem Post; NBC News). Israeli soldiers then shot dead two men they said were the attackers (NPR; NBC News). The military subsequently razed dozens of homes in the Ein Deir Baha district, converting some into barracks and observation posts and bulldozing a Palestinian businessman’s house (The Guardian; NBC News; Al Jazeera).
The operations displaced thousands of Palestinians, with estimates ranging from 2,000 to over 3,000 people forced from their homes, prompting protests that were met with stun grenades (The Guardian; Jerusalem Post). UNRWA warned that the extended lockdown and mass expulsions could amount to collective punishment (Al Jazeera). A human-rights group later filed a petition to halt further evacuations and demolitions (Jerusalem Post).