Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would demolish a Hebron neighbourhood in the occupied West Bank after Palestinian gunmen allegedly linked to a fatal checkpoint attack came from the area.
Netanyahu made the pledge during a Friday, October 23, 2026 visit to Hebron with Defence Minister Israel Katz. The shooting killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others.
Quick facts
- Netanyahu said residents would be removed while troops conduct house-to-house searches.
- Israeli forces would seize weapons and destroy infrastructure alleged to support militant activity.
- The government is considering what Netanyahu called its largest West Bank operation since Israel took the territory in 1967.
- Katz claimed Iran-backed groups and the Muslim Brotherhood sought to affect Israel’s forthcoming election through attacks, without presenting evidence.
In a video issued by his office, Netanyahu said the government would carry out a broad security campaign intended to remake the neighbourhood, drawing comparisons with earlier Israeli military operations in West Bank refugee camps.
“First of all, we will act to destroy this place, to change it completely,” Netanyahu said.
He said the operation would include moving residents out of the area, inspecting every home for weapons and eliminating facilities that Israel regards as connected to armed groups.
“We will evacuate the residents, we will go house to house, we will remove the weapons there as well, and all the terrorist infrastructure will be dealt with and destroyed,” he said.
Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, Israeli troops have conducted operations in multiple refugee camps across the West Bank. Those actions have included the displacement of residents from districts where the military says armed factions are active.
Netanyahu also said Israel would remove unpermitted buildings located alongside West Bank roads, arguing that certain structures create security threats for Israeli forces.
He said the military was preparing a large-scale campaign in the West Bank that could become the biggest such operation since Israel captured the area in 1967.
“The IDF is prepared to carry it out, and we will determine the timing, but it is on the way,” Netanyahu said.
During the Hebron trip, Netanyahu praised Israeli settlers as “a model for the people of Israel” and the country, speaking only days before the general election.
Katz tied the checkpoint shooting to what he described as a wider campaign by Iran-aligned organisations and the Muslim Brotherhood network against Israeli soldiers and civilians. He said the groups were attempting to shape the outcome of Israel’s upcoming election through violence, but the statement provided no evidence to support that allegation.
