In a move that will surprise absolutely no one familiar with the region's recent history, the Israeli military has launched a sweeping crackdown in the occupied West Bank, demolishing homes and businesses in Hebron and displacing hundreds of families. Local officials say at least 200 families have been forced out, while Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz put the figure at about 2,000 residents displaced - because when it comes to counting displaced Palestinians, apparently everyone gets a different calculator.

Footage shared online showed Israeli bulldozers flattening at least one whole street, because subtlety is for other countries. The military has also cordoned off the city, heavily restricting movement for its 200,000 residents - a population now enjoying the freedom of being collectively punished for the actions of two individuals.

The operation was announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, in response to the killing of two Israeli soldiers by two Palestinian gunmen at a checkpoint. Three other Israeli soldiers were injured, and the gunmen were also killed. Netanyahu said buildings around the attack site and the gunmen's home neighbourhoods would be "destroyed." The neighbourhoods in question - Ein Deir Baha and Farsh al-Hawa - were targeted along with homes, businesses, industrial sites, and infrastructure. Some families were told to leave without taking their vehicles, while homes were marked for demolition with spray paint, because nothing says "rule of law" like a can of red paint.

Katz said he believed the military planned to displace a total of 2,500 people from about 0.35 sq km of urban land, while the city's governor and deputy mayor said at least 200 families had been displaced. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not respond immediately to the BBC's request for comment, but said on social media that it had dozens of targets across the West Bank and that its operations would last for several days - so plenty of time for more families to enjoy the great outdoors.

It is common practice for Israeli forces to demolish the homes of Palestinians suspected of carrying out attacks in the West Bank - a practice Israeli rights groups have criticised as collective punishment. Netanyahu likened the operation to previous ones in Palestinian refugee camps in the north of the territory, when the Israeli military demolished hundreds of homes and displaced tens of thousands in 2025. Because nothing says "security" like repeating a greatest-hits album of displacement.

Friday's shooting came during a tense time for the region, with Israel's general election taking place in four days' time. Netanyahu - who has built his campaign on the promise of security - cancelled his party's campaign events for Friday morning and headed to Hebron, wearing protective armour and posting a video on social media from the scene. "We will evacuate the residents, go house to house, remove the weapons we find there, and deal with and destroy all terrorist infrastructure," he said, presumably between takes.

He also announced he had reviewed plans for the largest military operation in the West Bank since 1967 - though did not say when it could be carried out. It is not clear whether the ongoing Hebron operation forms part of that. In an interview with Israel's i24 television channel released on Saturday, he threatened "a very big surprise" for the Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs parts of the territory. The PA, in a statement, called for "urgent international action that went beyond condemnation" to prevent further forced displacement - a request that will almost certainly be met with urgent international condemnation.

Meanwhile, his far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for Israel to launch a campaign in the West Bank "exactly like in Gaza or Lebanon," while far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for Israel to dismantle the PA. Because why settle for a crackdown when you can have a full-scale regional conflagration?

Speaking to journalists, Hebron Mayor Youssef al-Jaabari said the operation was "driven by the elections," and that Netanyahu and his ministers were attempting to secure the votes of the far-right and the settlers. In other news, water is wet, and politicians sometimes do things for political gain - though rarely with bulldozers.