In Hebron, Netanyahu is turning displacement into an election spectacle
Issa Amro writes in +972 on 27 October 2026:
My sister Hayat had been living in her new home in the western Hebron neighborhood of Ein Deir Bahha for barely a week when, on Oct. 23, Israeli soldiers arrived and ordered her family to leave. She, a medical laboratory scientist, and her husband, a pharmacist, had just celebrated moving into the quiet, middle-class neighborhood far from Israeli settlements and military checkpoints with their seven children.
When Israeli soldiers drove through their neighborhood and the adjacent area of Al-Jaladeh, shouting orders to leave, her husband wanted to stay put and demand that they produce a military order justifying their eviction. But Hayat feared the soldiers would kill him if he resisted. She persuaded him to leave — and within the 10 minutes they were given to gather their belongings and evacuate, they took off for her father-in-law’s house on Ein Sarah street, in the heart of Hebron city, roughly three kilometers away.
Since that day, when two Palestinian gunmen shot dead two Israeli soldiers manning a checkpoint at Farsh Al-Hawa junction near Hebron, the Israeli military has forcefully expelled thousands of Palestinians from their homes in the city. Both Palestinian gunmen were also killed by Israeli forces during Friday’s exchange of fire, before the army began demolishing Palestinian homes and businesses. The Israeli government then launched a sweeping, violent military operation targeting entire neighborhoods, punishing thousands of civilians who had nothing to do with the attack.
The timing is no coincidence. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies are using our suffering to demonstrate their willingness to crack down on Palestinians, turning collective punishment — illegal under international law — into an electoral spectacle. But the consequences for us residents of Hebron will reverberate long after election day.
A neighborhood-turned-military zone
According to the Hebron Municipality, roughly 3,971 people from 619 families have been forcibly displaced since Oct. 23. Many, like my sister, were shocked to find themselves targeted by the military. Families were ordered out of their homes in the middle of the night, given just minutes to gather their belongings, and left with nowhere to go. Some fled with only the clothes on their backs, leaving behind even their children’s schoolbooks.
The scale of the destruction is staggering. According to the municipality, approximately 86 acres of the city had already been destroyed or marked for demolition by Saturday afternoon. Israeli soldiers have taken over evacuated houses, spray-painted black Xs on their walls, and draped Israeli flags over balconies. Military vehicles have blocked neighborhood roads, while checkpoints have been closed, cutting residents off from their homes and restricting movement across the city.