Israel Starts Demolishing Buildings in Hebron After Two Soldiers Killed at Checkpoint

The Israeli military has started demolishing Palestinian buildings in the West Bank city of Hebron, following an attack in which two Israeli soldiers were shot dead by two Palestinian gunmen.

Three other soldiers were wounded in the shooting at a checkpoint outside Hebron, according to officials. Both attackers were shot dead. Footage verified by the BBC shows an intense gun battle between the soldiers and the gunmen. Other video shows two men leaving a car armed with what appears to be a handgun and an assault rifle and opening fire on soldiers at the checkpoint, before coming under return fire.

Speaking from the scene, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military would "demolish this place and completely transform it," referring to the Hebron neighbourhood the attackers are said to have come from. He said Israel was ready for "extensive action" in the occupied West Bank and compared his plans to earlier operations in West Bank refugee camps, where residential buildings were demolished and thousands of people were displaced.

Netanyahu also said he had reviewed plans for the largest military operation in the West Bank in decades, though he did not say when it might take place. He added that he had imposed cordons around Hebron, which has about 200,000 residents, and the nearby city of Halhul.

Demolishing the homes of Palestinians suspected of carrying out attacks on Israelis is a common practice among Israeli forces. Israeli rights groups have criticised it as collective punishment.

The attack has already started to affect the election campaign. Netanyahu has built his bid on a promise of security, and his Likud party said it would cancel campaign events planned for Friday morning. Israel votes in four days. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is far-right, called for a campaign in the West Bank "exactly like in Gaza or Lebanon." National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, also far-right, urged Israel to dismantle the Palestinian Authority.

Political friction was already evident on Thursday, when Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused opposition leaders of undermining the government by criticising Netanyahu's warnings of an attack before the vote. He said they would be "responsible" for any future attack on the country. Opposition figures, including frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, offered condolences to the families of the dead soldiers and praised those who killed the attackers.

The Israeli military said it found a large quantity of ammunition in the attackers' vehicle. It believes the gunmen had meant to carry out a much larger attack on the nearby Route 35, but encountered the checkpoint and chose to open fire there instead.

The assault comes during a period of high tension in the West Bank, where extremist Jewish settlers have been targeting Palestinians during the annual olive harvest. According to the UN, at least 96 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the territory since the start of the year. Over the same period, four Israelis, both members of the security forces and civilians, have been killed there by Palestinians, a figure that does not include those who died in the latest attack.