Israeli press review: Israel to lockdown West Bank as Netanyahu orders Hebron siege

Israel blocking West Bank crossings All of the occupied West Bank's land crossings will be closed to Palestinians on Israel's election day on Tuesday, an Israeli military spokesperson said on Saturday, in a post on X. The spokesperson added that Palestinian workers will also be barred from entering all Israeli settlements in the territory between Sunday and Tuesday, cutting off a major source of revenue for many Palestinians. According to Haaretz, the Israeli military imposed similar restrictions on Palestinians in the occupied territory during previous elections, barring them from entering Israel on election day and the day after the vote. The army's announcement came just a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to prepare for a full lockdown of the West Bank, in response to Palestinian gunmen killing two soldiers at a checkpoint near Hebron on Friday. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Netanyahu also ordered the Israeli army to lay siege to Hebron, the West Bank's largest city, with approximately 250,000 residents, as collective punishment for the deadly incident. "We will act to destroy this place," the Israeli premier said of the Hebron neighbourhood that the gunmen allegedly came from, adding that the army "will evacuate the residents". Since Friday, Israel has expelled hundreds of Palestinians from their homes in Hebron, with Mayor Yousef Jaabari telling Middle East Eye that the city is "a disaster zone". Since the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel, the Israeli government has prevented tens of thousands of Palestinian workers from entering Israel, leading to high unemployment rates. According to the International Labour Organisation, almost 200,000 Palestinians from the West Bank worked in Israel and the settlements before the attacks; today, the number stands at 44,000 workers. Likud monitoring voters Netanyahu's Likud party is trying to find a way to monitor its voters on election day, bypassing orders by Israel's Supreme Court that banned such tactics, Haaretz reported on Sunday. According to the report, weeks after the court banned Likud from using a huge database of about a million potential Likud voters to encourage Israelis to vote for them, the party is "developing an alternative technological solution" to monitor supporters. ‘A disaster zone’: Hebron is under full Israeli siege, mayor says Read More » In previous election cycles, Likud representatives at polling stations used a special app to monitor who came to vote. They marked on the app who had voted, allowing the party's campaign to privately target supporters through phone calls, text messages and audio messages. According to Haaretz, Netanyahu's Likud party defines the ability to monitor voters "as critical and especially important", since in previous elections Netanyahu's election-day activities were decided according to where Likud voter turnout was low. However, sources in the opposition parties warned that without clear instructions from Israel's Central Elections Committee banning all of Likud's attempts to use the voter database to encourage turnout, the right-wing party will be able to bypass the Supreme Court's decisions. A spokesperson for the elections committee told Haaretz that "on election day, a clear sign will be displayed at every polling station official's post regarding the prohibition on collecting and transmitting information about voters". Top economists warn of collapse Two days after Netanyahu said that Israel might use cryptocurrency to avoid the impact of international sanctions, top Israeli economists warned of "immense and irreversible damage" to the Israeli economy if Netanyahu's plan is implemented. "Netanyahu is knowingly leading the State of Israel towards international boycott and economic isolation," the top economists said , according to the Israeli news site Ynet. 'Diplomatic and financial isolation': Netanyahu’s crypto plan to bypass sanctions draws rebuke Read More » They added that Netanyahu's "puzzling solution is common among criminal organisations", stating that the prime minister's comments "attest to a basic lack of understanding and ignorance in the face of the collapse of Israel's standing in the international arena". The warning follows Netanyahu's remarks on Friday, when he told Israeli Channel 10 that using cryptocurrency could weaken the effectiveness of sanctions such as those that the UK and other countries have imposed on Israel in recent years. Israel's Central Bank rejected Netanyahu's remarks, saying that "crypto coins can't serve as a way to bypass sanctions". However, the Israeli premier did not back down, telling Israeli Channel 14 News that he will do what he thinks is best for Israel. On Sunday, the top economists said that using cryptocurrency to bypass sanctions will affect all sectors of the Israeli economy, warning of high unemployment, paralysis of Israel's banking system, an exodus of foreign labour and a collapse of the healthcare system. "Economic sanctions will completely destroy the model that enables Israel's existence as a modern and advanced economy," the top economists stated, adding that, as happened in South Africa, Russia and Iran, "the standard of living of Israel's citizens will plummet drastically". Racist attack in Tel Aviv Three Druze citizens of Israel were violently attacked on Thursday evening in a Tel Aviv nightclub for speaking Arabic, Israeli independent journalist Daniel Amram reported on Saturday. According to the report, the young Druze men were speaking Arabic among themselves when a group of Jewish Israelis approached them and started a verbal altercation inside the nightclub. Israeli settler group submits proposals for new Jewish settlement in Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood Read More » "You will not speak Arabic here, get the hell out of our country," the Jewish men reportedly told the Druze men during the altercation, which later turned into a physical assault outside the club. One of the Druze men was stabbed by a Jewish man and rushed to the hospital with stab wounds and bruises. "Meanwhile, no one has been arrested. We will not stay silent about this," residents of the young men's hometown, Isfiya, told Amram. On Sunday, Yair Golan, leader of the Zionist left-wing party The Democrats, visited the wounded young man, stating that "the Druze and the Arabs are an integral part of Israeli society", accusing Netanyahu, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of spreading hate. "This violence is fed by incitement, by racism, and by a government that legitimises them," added Golan, whose party is hoping to win Druze and Arab votes in the upcoming elections. If elected, Golan said, "we will bring security back to the streets, fight racism without flinching, and build a society that guarantees true equality". Copyright © 2014 - 2026 . Middle East Eye. All rights reserved. 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