The Israeli military began a sweeping crackdown in the West Bank city of Hebron overnight on Saturday, evicting hundreds of families and demolishing buildings a day after Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers in the occupied territory.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to retaliate for the deadly shooting, which took place just days before a pivotal national election and against a backdrop of intensifying violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Mr. Netanyahu is neck and neck in opinion polls with a bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff and his leading challenger in the first major vote in Israel since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks ignited the war in Gaza.
On Saturday, Israeli forces were searching homes, making arrests and using loudspeakers to tell residents in Hebron’s Deir Baha neighborhood to leave, said Yousef Jabari, the city’s mayor. At least 2,000 Palestinians live in the area, many of whom have already fled, he said.
“This is not only collective punishment, it’s election propaganda,” said Mr. Jabari. “Netanyahu wants images of displacement, destroyed buildings and repression to appeal to voters.”
Khaled Fahd Qawasmi, the deputy mayor, said more than 200 Palestinian families were believed to have been displaced since the operation began overnight.
The Israeli military said the raid would last for several days in response to the attack on Friday, in which two Palestinians opened fire on Israeli troops near a checkpoint outside of Hebron. The gunmen were killed in a subsequent shootout, the military said.
Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Israel’s military chief of staff, said in a statement that the soldiers had prevented “an even more serious attack.” The military said a large cache of ammunition was found in a vehicle used by the attackers.
The two shooters have not been officially identified, and it was unclear whether they acted alone or on behalf of a militant group. Hamas, the Palestinian armed group based in Gaza, praised the attack but stopped short of claiming responsibility for it.
Israeli forces quickly moved to encircle Hebron, the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank, sealing off the city’s main entrances and exits. Israel Katz, the defense minister, vowed to replicate an operation in the cities of Tulkarm and Jenin, where Israeli officials have occupied entire neighborhoods and displaced tens of thousands of people.
Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Katz said a similar campaign would be carried out in the two gunmen’s Hebron neighborhood. They did not specify the neighborhood, but Mr. Jabari said it was probably Deir Baha.
“We will evacuate the residents, we will go house to house, we will also confiscate the weapons there, and all terrorist infrastructures will be dealt with and destroyed,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
The Israeli military said Palestinian civilians would be allowed to leave through designated checkpoints but did not say whether they would be permitted to return. An Israeli military spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Violence in the West Bank has been escalating lately. In recent weeks, extremist Jewish settlers have initiated dozens of attacks against Palestinians during the annual olive harvest, a cultural touchstone for many Palestinians. Masked Israelis have assaulted Palestinians gathering olives, beating them with clubs and hurling stones.
The heightened strife comes just days before an Israeli election that Israelis and Palestinians, who cannot vote in it, view as existential. Mr. Netanyahu, who has led the most hard-line, right-wing government in Israeli history, is fighting for his political life.
Some Israeli analysts have said the vote may be influencing the prime minister’s decision to start a major military operation in the West Bank. Both Mr. Netanyahu and his opponents have sought to burnish their security credentials to woo Israeli voters rattled by three years of war.
Israeli forces also began razing buildings near the scene of the attack in the Farsh al-Hawa neighborhood on the western outskirts of Hebron. The Israeli military said it was “demolishing illegal structures that could pose a security threat.”
One of the houses belonged to Riyad Mreish, a Palestinian who spent more than two decades working in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Mreish said he had poured the savings he had accumulated during his time abroad into the home.
“I haven’t slept a moment,” Mr. Mreish said. “I cannot comprehend what happened.”
Israel regularly demolishes Palestinian homes in West Bank areas under its direct control, arguing that they were built illegally. Palestinians say Israel almost never issues Palestinians any permits for legal construction, forcing them to build without them.
Heedo Abu Laban and Adam Rasgon contributed reporting.
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