IDF troops and the Civil Administration continued demolishing illegally constructed buildings and infrastructure near the northern entrance to Hebron on Saturday, as part of a large-scale military operation launched following Friday's deadly shooting attack that killed two IDF soldiers, St.-Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem.
The demolitions are taking place near the site of the attack and are intended to enforce law and order and eliminate potential security threats posed by the structures.
The broader counterterrorism operation, conducted under the command of the Judea Brigade, involves IDF troops from Duvdevan, Maglan, the Paratroopers Brigade, Givati reconnaissance reservists, and Border Police, with intelligence guidance from the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).
As part of the targeted operation, IDF troops searched approximately 200 locations, ruling out the presence of weapons and terrorist activity, and arrested 10 suspects.
According to IDF assessments, approximately 2,000 residents in the area belong to the Ja'aba clan, which is affiliated with Hamas and from which the terrorists responsible for Friday's attack originated.
IDF evacuates Hebron neighborhoods amid counterterrorism operation
During the operation, civilians who requested to evacuate were permitted to temporarily leave the area through designated checkpoints operated by the Shin Bet and IDF.
On Friday evening, it emerged that the IDF had begun evacuating the al-Jalda and Ein Dir-Baha neighborhoods in Hebron as part of the broader military operation in response to the deadly attack.
Al-Jalda and Ein Dir-Baha are densely populated neighborhoods in western Hebron, located within the city's Palestinian urban area.
According to military officials in the IDF's Central Command, the two terrorists who carried out the deadly shooting at Yehuda Junction, Hamouda and Firas al-Ja'aba, both affiliated with Hamas, came directly from the Ein Dir-Baha neighborhood.
Evacuating the area allows IDF troops and Shin Bet personnel to conduct searches inside buildings, family homes, and their immediate surroundings.
The area is well known to the IDF and Shin Bet as a center of activity for Hamas operatives in Hebron.
According to military officials in Central Command, evacuating residents from the buildings allows IDF troops to thoroughly search structures throughout the area for terrorist infrastructure, weapons, ammunition, explosives laboratories, and weapons caches without endangering civilians.
IDF expands arrests and searches across the West Bank
The officials said a situational assessment would be held on Saturday to determine whether to expand the operation.
Meanwhile, Brig.-Gen. Kobi Heller, commander of the IDF's West Bank Division, has expanded 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.