Israel launches military operation in West Bank, Hebron families displaced

Israeli forces pushed into the West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday and displaced some 250 families, some in the middle of the night, vowing a heavy price over a deadly attack on soldiers.

According to a joint statement issued by the IDF and the Israeli Security Agency, personnel from the Judea District Coordination and Liaison Administration launched a counterterrorism operation in the Hebron area, from which the suspected gunmen had emerged.

"The forces have begun conducting precise, targeted and thorough searches throughout the area to locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure and weapons, while questioning suspects," it added.

It said the operation is "targeted and limited," and is "expected to continue for several days."

Days before tight elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was planning an operation on a scale not seen since Israel first occupied the West Bank in 1967, after Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near Hebron, a flashpoint city in which hardline Israeli settlers live surrounded by local Palestinians.

The Palestinian Authority called for international pressure on Israel to protect Palestinians after the launch of the operation.

Confronting "the growing threats to expand the scope of forced displacement and destruction requires urgent international action that goes beyond condemnation to adopt tangible and deterrent measures", the PA's foreign ministry said in a statement.

'Netanyahu wants to win'

In the neighborhood of Ein Dir Baha nestled between two hills, buildings were marked by X's showing they had been cleared of people.

The streets in the area were deserted of people and cars other than a pair of Israeli military vehicles, with an Israeli flag draped on a house apparently taken over by troops.

In addition, the IDF confirmed that measures are underway to "improve security conditions in the area by demolishing illegal structures" that could pose a security threat at the site of the encounter.

Higazi Shawer al-Tamimi, 70, a shopkeeper who sells live chickens and feed, and plays a leadership role in the neighborhood, said the army woke him up at 1 am and told him and other residents to leave.

He had only two hours and packed just clothes and his official papers. Many families had no vehicles and tried to find ways to stay with relatives elsewhere.

This is only happening "because Netanyahu wants to win" the election, he said.

"He wants to win it with the blood of the Palestinian people," he said. "But we won't go anywhere."

Around one-third of Hebron has been targeted, Hebron Governor Khaled Dudin said.

"They started in the neighborhood from which the people who carried out the attack came, but there is no guarantee that the operation will not expand," he said.

"This amounts to collective punishment being imposed on civilians who have nothing at all to do with this," he said.

Meanwhile, IDF said that residents living in the area where forces are operating "will be able to leave through three designated exit points, following questioning and security screening. Individuals who raise suspicion during the screening process will be referred to security forces for further questioning."

The governor said 150 families had been affected, while the mayor of Hebron, Youssef al-Jaabari, and local activist Issa Amro put the figure at 250.

"We will find them shelter and provide these people with all the help they need," the mayor said.

The Israeli military said it was "conducting precise, targeted and thorough searches" focused on the area of the two gunmen, who were both killed in the gunfight.

It said the operation would last several days, in line with similar army actions after previous attacks.

But Netanyahu suggested that bigger action was coming. 

His far-right national security advisor, Itamar Ben Gvir, who is rising in polls ahead of Tuesday's vote, has called on Israel to dismantle the Palestinian Authority.

'I will act to neutralize the threat'

Asked if he agreed on destroying the Palestinian Authority, Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, boasted that he has rejected pressure from three US presidents to work to establish a Palestinian state.

"I will act to neutralize that threat by means I think are better left unspecified right now," Netanyahu said of the Palestinian Authority in an interview with i24News.

There is no evidence that the Palestinian Authority had any involvement in Friday's attack.

Referring to his attacks on Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, Netanyahu said: "We transformed the Middle East. I said that we would change things and we have."

"There is a very big surprise for the Palestinian Authority as well."

Netanyahu has linked the assailants to Hamas.

The group, while not claiming credit, hailed Friday's attack on soldiers and called on Palestinians to carry out more of them.

The attack came after rising tensions in the West Bank as Israeli settlers, who enjoy strong support from Netanyahu's far-right allies, ramp up seizure of Palestinian land and attacks.

Rights group Yesh Din reported 672 incidents of settler violence over the past 26 days, nearly half related to the olive harvest, an annual event with cultural resonance to Palestinians that extremist settlers have sought to stop.

Polls show Netanyahu neck and neck with an opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot, a center-right former military chief who also opposes a Palestinian state but has promised to crack down on settler violence.