IDF launches major op in Hebron after soldiers killed in shooting attack

Following the deadly shooting attack near Hebron, the IDF late Friday announced that it had launched a major counterterrorism operation in the West Bank city.

Forces from the IDF, Shin Bet, Border Police and Civil Administration were carrying out “targeted and thorough searches… in the area to locate and dismantle terror infrastructure and weapons, and to interrogate many dozens of suspects,” the military says.

The IDF said the raid was “focused and limited to the area from which the terrorists operated,” and was expected to last several days.

Palestinian residents living in the area where the troops were operating will be able to leave through three designated exit points, following questioning and security checks, the army said, adding that “anyone who raises suspicion during the checks will be taken for questioning by security forces.”

Earlier Friday, the military said troops measured the homes in Hebron of the two gunmen who shot dead two soldiers manning a checkpoint at an exit to the city, ahead of their potential demolition. The IDF has also imposed a closure on Hebron and nearby Palestinian towns and villages.

Additionally, the army said troops were demolishing “illegal structures that could pose a security risk” in the area of the shooting attack.

IDF soldiers were seen in footage ordering Palestinians in Farsh al-Hawa near Hebron to evacuate their homes ahead of the demolition, in what the Palestinian Authority said amounted to collective punishment in the wake of the deadly shooting.

Armed soldiers were seen shoving Palestinian civilians to vacate the premises, after their belongings were swiftly loaded onto trucks. Photos and video from the site showed structures being bulldozed by Israeli forces.

فيديو | قوات الاحتلال تخلي منزلا بالقوة تمهيدا لهدمه في منطقة فرش الهوى بالخليل pic.twitter.com/MfCynmPimo

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) October 23, 2026

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier in the day that Israel would “destroy” the entire neighborhood where the two shooters lived, expanding punitive measures against Palestinians from just the homes of the perpetrators.

He also said he ordered preparations for a full lockdown across the West Bank, which is already expected to be under lockdown on Monday and Tuesday as a security measure amid Israel’s national elections.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also posted a video from the site of the attack saying that he ordered “a series of demolitions of illegal structures” in order to “create deterrence and exact a price for the serious attack today.”

“We are already here with the equipment on the ground, sending an unequivocal message to our enemies: if you mess with us, we will exact a very, very painful price from you,” he added.

Rights group B’Tselem denounced the demolitions and called for international pressure on Israel.

“Israeli leaders are publicly announcing plans for collective punishment and acts that could constitute war crimes,” B’Tselem said, adding that it “urgently calls on governments and international institutions to act now, using all means available under international law, to prevent the forcible displacement of Palestinian civilians, collective punishment and extensive unlawful destruction in Hebron.”

Palestinian activist Issa Amro similarly urged “the UN, international governments, and humanitarian organizations to act now: protect civilians, demand an end to unlawful demolitions and collective restrictions, and ensure safe access to essential supplies and emergency services.”

The Hebron governorate is already under dire economic straits, as the IDF has closed five of the seven entrances to the region where over 1 million Palestinians live, in what has ground life to a halt for the West Bank’s main economic hub.

Violence in the West Bank has soared since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023.

More than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the war started, according to the Palestinian AUthority health ministry. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.

During the same period, 60 civilians and Israeli security personnel have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes during raids in Palestinian cities in the West Bank.

The same period has also seen a major surge in attacks by settler extremists on Palestinians and their property across the West Bank. The IDF recorded 867 incidents of nationalistic crime and settler violence in 2025. The total for 2024 was 682 incidents.

The Yesh Din rights group reported Friday that there have been more than 670 incidents of settler violence since the start of the Palestinian olive harvest nearly a month ago, averaging more than 25 incidents per day.

The attacks include 135 incidents of physical violence, 106 incidents of blocking Palestinians from harvesting their olive trees, 176 incidents of theft and property damage and 49 incidents of tree vandalism.

More than 23% of the incidents took place while the IDF was on site or involved, according to Yesh Din.

IDF chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said last week that the military “will continue to act to enable the harvest to take place,” but activists and Palestinians have repeatedly reported Israeli forces detaining activists or preventing them from reaching olive groves.

The data was based on documentation by Yesh Din field researchers, verified information from the field, and cross-referencing public reports and accounts from various sources. The review covered the period from September 27 to October 22, 2026.

“Settler violence during the olive harvest is a recurring phenomenon, but the scale of violence by settlers and soldiers that we are witnessing and documenting this year is exceptional,” said Yesh Din executive director Ziv Stahl.

“The near-total absence of law enforcement by the Israeli military and police, coupled with the backing settlers receive from government officials, makes clear that this violence is part of a broader, systematic Israeli government policy of forcibly displacing Palestinians from their land as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing, paving the way for the annexation of the West Bank without its Palestinian population,” she added.

Agencies contributed to this report.