West Bankupdated 52m ago3 min read
Benjamin Netanyahu Orders Major West Bank Operation After Hebron Attack Kills Two Soldiers
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Two Israeli soldiers killed in a Hebron-area checkpoint attack by two gunmen. Netanyahu orders a wide-scale West Bank operation, house-to-house searches, evacuations, and demolitions in Hebron.
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Hebron after shooting
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is preparing a major military operation in the West Bank after an exchange of fire with two armed Palestinian men at the northern checkpoint of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on October 23, 2026. Israeli forces launched raids in Hebron and nearby villages after the attack that killed two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian attackers, while three other Israeli soldiers were slightly wounded, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Netanyahu said the military would apply the operational model it had used in refugee camps to neighborhoods from which the attackers had emerged, and he said residents would be evacuated, troops would conduct house-to-house searches, weapons would be seized, and what he called "terrorist infrastructure" would be destroyed.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned Israel's tightening of restrictions in Hebron, warning that the measures could lead to further violence and collective punishment. Palestinian sources said Israeli forces demolished a building containing three apartments in the Farsh al-Hawa area west of Hebron, each covering about 200 square meters, and they said roads linking the city to nearby areas were also closed.
Evacuations, siege, and exits
Israel began on Friday to demolish buildings and force residents to evacuate one neighborhood in Hebron, hours after Palestinian militants opened fire at an Israeli military checkpoint, killing two soldiers. The Israeli army announced a "full siege" of the city of Hebron, while Netanyahu said he had issued orders to close the West Bank entirely starting Friday, according to CNN Arabic. Netanyahu also said the army would forcibly evacuate the attack area and "change its features completely" by implementing the plan used in the Jenin, Tulkarem, Noor Shams, and al-Faraa camps at the beginning of 2025, which forced thousands of Palestinians from their homes and evacuated entire neighborhoods.
The Israeli army and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) stated in a joint statement that Israeli authorities launched a multi-day operation to counter terrorism in the Hebron area, and the operation was described as including searches and building demolitions. The AFP account said the Israeli army announced the operation is "expected to continue for several days," and it said the forces conducted searches of targets and interrogated suspects to "identify and dismantle terrorist infrastructure" in the Hebron area.
Escalation and political stakes
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz were studying a large-scale operation for the army in the West Bank that has no equal since the Six-Day War, and he said the army will "enter the neighborhood from which the militants emerged, evacuate residents, move from house to house, and destroy the militants’ infrastructure." Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a new military operation in the West Bank "just as in Gaza," and he said there is "no choice but to launch a large-scale campaign in Judea and Samaria to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, collect weapons and eliminate the terrorists." The Israeli rights group B'Tselem urged pressure "to prevent the forcible displacement of Palestinian civilians and the collective punishment and wide-scale illegal destruction in Hebron," while United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres expressed concern about Israeli closures affecting Palestinians' livelihoods and called for an end to violence by all parties.
The Japan Times said the operation would last several days and include searches and building demolitions, and it said security forces were searching targets and questioning suspects to "locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure" in the Hebron area. The BBC said Netanyahu and his right-wing allies are campaigning on platforms to expand settlements in the West Bank and oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state, and it said these developments come days before Israel’s general elections scheduled for 27 October.