Hebron, West Bank — Israel Demolishes Buildings After Soldiers Killed

Israeli military bulldozers began tearing down Palestinian buildings in Hebron on Friday afternoon, hours after two Israeli soldiers were shot dead at a checkpoint outside the city, according to BBC News. Three other soldiers were wounded in the attack before the two Palestinian gunmen were shot dead, Israeli officials told the BBC.

Footage verified by the BBC shows two gunmen stepping out of a car armed with what appears to be a handgun and an assault rifle, opening fire on soldiers at the checkpoint before coming under return fire. The Israeli military said it recovered a large quantity of ammunition from the attackers' vehicle and believes the men intended to carry out a larger assault on nearby Route 35 before running into the checkpoint, the BBC reported.

What happened at the Hebron checkpoint?

The attack took place Friday morning at a checkpoint outside Hebron, a city of about 200,000 residents, according to figures cited by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reported by the BBC. Netanyahu said he had imposed cordons around Hebron and the nearby city of Halhul following the shooting. Israel also ordered a closure in the area after the attack, HTT News reported in an earlier dispatch from the scene.

Why is Israel demolishing buildings in the neighborhood?

Speaking from the scene, Netanyahu said the military would "destroy" the neighborhood where the two attackers came from. "Destroy this place and completely transform it," he said, according to the BBC. Diggers were photographed demolishing homes on Friday afternoon, images distributed by Anadolu via Getty Images show.

It is common practice for Israeli forces to demolish the homes of Palestinians suspected of carrying out attacks on Israelis, a measure Israeli rights groups have criticized as collective punishment, according to the BBC. Netanyahu compared his plans to previous Israeli operations in West Bank refugee camps, where residential buildings were torn down and thousands of people were displaced.

Netanyahu also said he had reviewed plans for what he described as the largest military operation in the West Bank in decades, though he did not say when such an operation might begin, the BBC reported.

How is the attack affecting Israel's election campaign?

The shooting landed four days before Israel's general election, a timeline confirmed by the BBC, and has already shaped the closing days of the campaign. Netanyahu, who has built his re-election bid around a promise of security, canceled Likud campaign events scheduled for Friday morning in response to the attack.

The violence also follows a period of heightened tension in the West Bank tied to the annual olive harvest, during which the BBC reported that extremist Jewish settlers have been targeting Palestinians.

What do Israeli officials and opposition leaders say?

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for Israel to launch a campaign in the West Bank "exactly like in Gaza or Lebanon," the BBC reported. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for Israel to dismantle the Palestinian Authority entirely.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz, speaking Thursday before the attack, accused opposition leaders of undermining the government by criticizing Netanyahu's prior warnings of a potential attack ahead of the election. Katz said opposition figures would be "responsible" for any future attack on the country, according to the BBC.

Opposition leaders took a different tone following the shooting. Election frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett both offered condolences to the families of the killed soldiers and praised the troops who killed the attackers, the BBC reported. Neither opposition leader was quoted endorsing Netanyahu's demolition order or his description of a potential large-scale operation.

What happens next in the West Bank?

With cordons in place around Hebron and Halhul and demolitions already underway, the immediate aftermath is playing out under a closure Israel ordered for the area, as HTT News reported separately. Netanyahu's reference to reviewed plans for an expanded West Bank operation leaves open the question of whether Friday's response escalates beyond the Hebron neighborhood tied to the attackers, though no timeline has been given. The election, set for four days after the attack, will determine whether Netanyahu or a rival government led by figures such as Eisenkot or Bennett oversees any further response.

The BBC's verified footage and the Israeli military's account of recovered ammunition remain the primary public record of how the attack unfolded; no additional casualty figures beyond the two soldiers killed and three wounded, and the two gunmen killed, have been reported.