Hebron Evictions Spark Major West Bank Operation

Israeli forces have begun tearing down homes and displacing hundreds of Palestinians in Hebron following a deadly checkpoint attack. The attack killed two soldiers and wounded three others. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to carry out a military operation in the West Bank on a scale not seen since the Six Day War almost 60 years ago.

Bulldozers have already started flattening homes near the shooting site. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem has urged foreign governments to intervene to prevent 'another wave of ethnic cleansing and war crimes.' The Israeli military said its soldiers were behind concrete barriers at the checkpoint when two gunmen opened fire, sparking a 20-minute firefight that ended with the attackers being killed.

The Israeli military told NPR that its soldiers were behind concrete barriers at the checkpoint when two gunmen opened fire, sparking a 20-minute firefight that ended with the attackers being killed. The episode comes during a surge of violence and land seizures by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank. The United Nations Human Rights Office for the occupied Palestinian territory has described the situation as a 'new level of dehumanization of Palestinians.' Israel has also imposed widespread closures in Hebron, the most populous city in the occupied West Bank, making movement in and around it difficult.

The Israeli military told NPR that its soldiers were behind concrete barriers at the checkpoint when two gunmen opened fire, sparking a 20-minute firefight that ended with the attackers being killed. The episode comes during a surge of violence and land seizures by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank. The United Nations Human Rights Office for the occupied Palestinian territory has described the situation as a 'new level of dehumanization of Palestinians.' Israel has also imposed widespread closures in Hebron, the most populous city in the occupied West Bank, making movement in and around it difficult.

Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said the way to prevent more attacks by Palestinians is not collective punishment. He called the eviction of families from the attackers' neighborhood, without evidence of any link to the gunmen, 'collective punishment.' The Israeli military told NPR that its soldiers were behind concrete barriers at the checkpoint when two gunmen opened fire, sparking a 20-minute firefight that ended with the attackers being killed.