IDF troops, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Border Police officers, and the Judea Regional Brigade forcibly evacuated 2,000 Hebron-area Palestinians and destroyed an unspecified number of structures in the vicinity over the weekend in response to Friday morning’s deadly Hamas terrorist attack.
St.-Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, from Ashkelon, and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, from Hod Hasharon, were killed in the attack, while three others were lightly wounded.
Two terrorists were killed during the confrontation, and the IDF said no additional terrorists were involved.
The attack took place at Judea Junction, where the two Hamas terrorists traveling in a car opened fire on four soldiers stationed at the junction. IDF sources estimated that the attackers had originally intended to continue past the junction and carry out a larger attack on the heavily trafficked Route 35 but opened fire after realizing they would be unable to proceed past the IDF control.
The forced evacuations from Hebron appear to be different from other recent incidents.
Although in early 2025, Israel cleared areas of Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur al-Shams in the West Bank, evacuating close to 40,000 Palestinians, those areas had experienced well-documented mass terror incidents dating back to early 2022.
The IDF carried out multiple temporary evacuations at that time and even sent in the Palestinian Authority to fight large and organized terror groups before undertaking the mass evacuation and destroying several structures in those areas.
In contrast, this time, the IDF provided little information about the offenses of the 2,000 evacuated Palestinians, other than to say that they were familially connected to the Hamas-linked Gaza clan.
While during the 2015-2016 stabbing intifada and in earlier years, Hebron had been one of the most violent and unstable areas – and there have been some terror incidents emanating from Hebron over the past three years of war – generally, it has not been one of the leading problem spots.
IDF demolishes structures during Hebron operations
In addition, the IDF said it destroyed illegally built structures that could make security operations harder to carry out. However, the military was extremely vague about what those operations were and why entire buildings needed to be destroyed to carry them out.
Pressed about how many of the 2,000 hamula (“clan”) members have records linking them to terror (or at a minimum, to rock throwing), multiple IDF sources did not appear to have any specific information on the topic.
Rather, the operation seemed to be motivated by public statements made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz about clearing or destroying the neighborhood of the two men involved in the terror incident on Friday – apparently a collective punishment measure.
First operation of its kind in West Bank
While Israel has placed closures on terror-emanating areas in the past, it has not carried out mass evacuations and building demolitions to such an extent without a specific connection to those being impacted.
While the legal basis for these actions was unclear and global criticism was beginning to stream in, in Israel’s current atmosphere, leading into Tuesday’s elections, it appeared unlikely that any immediate condemnation would have an impact on the operation.
In its vague Friday night statement, the IDF said that it had launched a counterterrorism operation in the Hebron area following Friday morning’s deadly Hamas terrorist attack.
Security forces are conducting systematic searches for terrorist infrastructure and weapons in the area and questioning dozens of suspects, according to their joint statement.
The operation is focused on the area from which the terrorists operated and is expected to last several days.
Residents living within the operational area will be permitted to leave through three designated exit points after undergoing questioning and security checks. Security forces will take anyone who raises suspicion during the screening process for further questioning.
Parallel operations were underway in the Jenin and Nablus areas to locate weapons and carry out arrests, alongside the ongoing counterterrorism operation in Hebron, Walla reported on Saturday morning. Security forces were also operating in Kafr Aqab in east Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Tamun, according to the report.
The operation follows a series of counterterrorism measures carried out since Friday morning, including mapping the terrorists’ homes, sealing off the Hebron and Halhul areas, establishing roadblocks, and conducting operations in nearby villages. Security forces are also removing illegal infrastructure that could pose a security threat near the site of the attack.
Richard Offenbacher contributed to this report.