Widespread destruction as IDF carries out large-scale operation in Hebron

While Israelis were distracted by the elections, the IDF mounted a massive operation in Hebron that may have dire implications for West Bank Palestinians.

It was the first time since October 7 that Israel has carried out mass displacement inside a West Bank city or in the southern part of the occupied territory.

The operation was sparked by a Palestinian attack at a checkpoint on October 23 that killed two soldiers and wounded three others. After the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz showed up at the scene and vowed that the area that was home to the two assailants, both killed during their assault, would be destroyed.

At first, the action seemed like an appeal to the right-wing base days before the election. But in practice, the operation came to resemble the expulsions of Palestinians by the IDF in the northern part of the West Bank nearly two years ago.

UN Human Rights chief, Volker Türk, said the recent Hebron action raised serious concerns of ethnic cleansing

In fact, no one was killed because the IDF encountered no resistance. An estimated 3,300 people were forcibly displaced from their homes, but they were able to return when the operation ended after 11 days.

Troops pulled out with little to show except the destruction and ill will they generated. Israeli soldiers destroyed 15 structures, including the homes of the two assailants, according to the Hebron municipality, which said the operation damaged 327 shops and businesses and disrupted schooling for 80,000 students.