IDF demolishes illegal structures in Hebron following deadly shooting attack on soldiers

Israeli troops and Civil Administration personnel demolished illegally constructed buildings and infrastructure near the northern entrance to Hebron on Saturday, pressing ahead with a large-scale military operation launched after a deadly shooting attack a day earlier.

Friday's attack at Yehuda Junction killed two soldiers, St.-Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem. The military said the demolitions, carried out close to the scene of the shooting, were intended to enforce law and order and eliminate potential security threats posed by the structures.

The broader counterterrorism campaign is being conducted under the command of the Judea Brigade and involves troops from the Duvdevan and Maglan units, the Paratroopers Brigade, Givati reconnaissance reservists and Border Police, with intelligence guidance from the Shin Bet security agency.

As part of the operation, soldiers searched roughly 200 locations, ruling out the presence of weapons and terrorist activity, and arrested 10 suspects.

According to IDF assessments, approximately 2,000 residents of the area belong to the Ja'aba clan, which is affiliated with Hamas and from which the gunmen responsible for Friday's attack originated. Military officials in Central Command identified the attackers as Hamouda and Firas al-Ja'aba, both affiliated with Hamas, and said the two came directly from the Ein Dir-Baha neighborhood.

It emerged on Friday evening that the military had begun evacuating the al-Jalda and Ein Dir-Baha neighborhoods, densely populated districts in western Hebron located within the city's Palestinian urban area. Civilians who requested to leave were permitted to temporarily exit through designated checkpoints operated by the Shin Bet and the IDF.

Officials said evacuating residents from the buildings allows troops and Shin Bet personnel to thoroughly search structures, family homes and their immediate surroundings for terrorist infrastructure, weapons, ammunition, explosives laboratories and weapons caches without endangering civilians. The area is well known to the security establishment as a center of activity for Hamas operatives in Hebron.

Officials said a situational assessment would be held on Saturday to determine whether to expand the operation. In the meantime, Brig.-Gen. Kobi Heller, commander of the IDF's West Bank Division, has broadened arrest operations and searches in the Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarm areas, as well as additional locations throughout Samaria.

The expanded operations come amid concerns over efforts by Hamas leadership abroad to orchestrate terrorist attacks ahead of the elections.