Israel announces the closure of the occupied West Bank crossings during the elections

The Israeli army announced the closure of all land crossings in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, coinciding with the Israeli elections, and preventing Palestinian workers from entering settlements, with limited exceptions.

These restrictions come in light of a massive military and security campaign in the occupied West Bank, following the killing of two Israeli soldiers in an attack carried out by Palestinian gunmen.

The Israeli army said that the measures include “banning the entry and exit of Palestinian workers throughout Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley, including industrial areas, in addition to closing all land crossings” on Tuesday.

The Israeli army uses the name "Judea and Samaria" to refer to the West Bank.

He added that most Palestinian workers will be prohibited from entering settlements starting Sunday, with the exception of industrial zones and a limited number of other areas.

Before the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, more than 100,000 Palestinian workers were allowed to enter Israel, but only a small percentage of them have regained their work permits since then.

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the launch of a large-scale military operation in response to the killing of two Israeli soldiers in an attack launched by two Palestinian gunmen on a military checkpoint. Three other Israeli soldiers were injured in the attack, while the two gunmen were also killed.

Israeli forces carried out demolitions of homes and commercial facilities in the city of Hebron, which led to the displacement of hundreds of families.

Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said that about two thousand people were displaced due to the operation, while video clips circulated on the Internet showed what appeared to be at least an entire street leveled to the ground.

The Israeli army had imposed a cordon on Hebron even before announcing, on Sunday, new restrictions on the movement of Palestinian workers, which severely restricted the movement of the city’s population of about 200,000 people.

Demolishing the homes of Palestinians suspected of carrying out attacks against Israelis is a practice followed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank. It has been criticized by Israeli human rights organizations and described as a form of collective punishment.

Friday's attack came amid escalating tension in the region, days before the Israeli elections scheduled for Tuesday.

In an interview with the Israeli i24 channel published on Saturday, Netanyahu threatened the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, with a “very big surprise.”

Hebron Mayor Yousef Al-Jaabari said that the military operation was “motivated by the elections,” accusing Netanyahu and his ministers of seeking to woo the votes of the extreme right and settlers.

In Tel Aviv, thousands of Israelis demonstrated on Saturday in protest against the government.

The demonstration was organized by the October Council, a gathering founded by the families of the victims of the October 7, 2023 attack and the hostages taken by the militants during it, to demand that those responsible be held accountable for the failure to prevent the Hamas-led attack.