Israel's military has launched a major operation in the occupied West Bank that it says will last several days, after two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint in Hebron on Friday. The offensive comes days before Israel's general election on Tuesday, in which security has been a central issue.
According to a joint statement by the Israeli military and the Shin Bet domestic security agency, forces are searching targets and questioning Palestinians in the Hebron area from which the attackers came. They are also demolishing what the statement called "illegal structures" at the scene, with operations under way at dozens of locations. Both attackers were shot dead by Israeli forces.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, locked in a tight race to keep his job, ordered a lockdown of the West Bank. Visiting Hebron, he said he and Defence Minister Israel Katz were considering the most extensive military operation in the territory since the 1967 war, beginning with troops entering the attackers' neighbourhood, evacuating residents and searching house to house.
Hamas praised the attack without claiming responsibility. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced concern over closures affecting Palestinian livelihoods and called for an end to violence on all sides, while Israeli rights group B'Tselem urged international pressure to stop what it called plans for collective punishment. According to Palestinian health ministry data, Israeli forces and settlers have killed 1,117 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 2023.