Nearly 500,000 Palestinians in Hebron are facing a sweeping Israeli lockdown and military assault, with large-scale demolitions across the city. More than 200 families were forcibly driven from their homes overnight, while Israeli forces seized some houses and converted them into military positions. Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh reports from the occupied West Bank.

A Palestinian family in Hebron, south of the occupied West Bank, watch in heartbreak and anguish the remains of their home that was levelled to the ground by Israeli occupation authorities. 📹 Bilal al-Taweel

HEBRON IS UNDER SIEGE. FAMILIES ARE LOSING THEIR HOMES. Since yesterday, at least 250 families have been displaced in Hebron, including my own sister, Hayat, and her seven children. Homes and shops are being demolished by the Israeli military. Around 250,000 people are trapped in the city, while 1,000 families in H2 remain in their homes. We are being collectively punished for something we neither did nor supported. Our suffering is being turned into political material for Israel’s elections, while innocent families pay the price. #Hebron #HumanRights #EndCollectivePunishment #StopForcedDisplacement #ActNow

⚡️ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to demolish an entire Hebron neighborhood, expel its residents and build "more and more settlements" after two Israeli soldiers were killed in a shooting near the illegally occupied West Bank city on Friday. Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a junction outside Hebron, killing a staff sergeant and a sergeant, before Israeli forces killed them. Palestinian media identified them as Hamouda Jaaba and Firas Jaaba, both 27, from Hebron. Netanyahu blamed Hamas but offered no evidence beyond ammunition the army said it found in their car. "Our first step will be to demolish this site and completely transform it," Netanyahu said, adding Israel is "building and arranging over 100 new settlements." Israeli forces sealed off Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank, and arrested dozens as Netanyahu ordered preparations for a full closure of the entire West Bank – applying to Palestinians only, with Israeli roads staying open to settlers. The news comes just five days before Israel's elections, with Netanyahu trailing in the polls.

Israeli settlers attempt to block aid trucks bound for Gaza as Channel 14 correspondent defends obstruction —— Israeli settlers affiliated with the extremist Order 9 (Tzav 9) movement are trying to block the passage of trucks carrying humanitarian aid bound for the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom (Karam Abu Salem) crossing, obstructing desperately needed supplies from reaching the devastated, besieged enclave. Meanwhile, a correspondent for Israel's Channel 14, reporting from the crossing, criticized the planned entry of aid trucks into Gaza, claiming that the supplies would end up in the hands of Hamas. She also alleged that the trucks were carrying dual-use materials, using these claims to justify efforts to prevent their entry, even as Palestinians in Gaza continue to face severe humanitarian deprivation following years of Israeli bombardment, displacement, and restrictions on essential supplies.