Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a large-scale military operation is being prepared in the occupied West Bank, including the deportation of residents from Hebron, following an attack suspected of being carried out by Palestinian militants that resulted in the killing of two Israeli soldiers and the wounding of at least three others.
Netanyahu's office reported that he said, during a visit to Hebron after the shooting, that Israeli forces "will enter the neighborhood from which the two terrorists emerged, and will evacuate the residents, and will move from one house to another, and will destroy the terrorists' infrastructure," as he put it.
He added: “The Minister of Defense and I are studying a large-scale army operation in Judea and Samaria (the Israeli name for the West Bank), the likes of which has not been witnessed since the Six-Day War,” referring to the 1967 war. He continued, “The Israeli army is fully prepared to implement it, and we will determine its date. It is under preparation.”
This comes after Netanyahu ordered a “complete closure” on the West Bank, after shooting at a military checkpoint near the entrance to Farsh al-Hawa in Hebron.
Agence France-Presse quoted the Israeli army as announcing that “two of its soldiers were killed in the attack in the occupied West Bank.”
On the other hand, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians suspected of carrying out the attack, according to the Israeli army, after a short pursuit operation.
Medics had announced on Friday morning that at least five Israelis had been injured, two of them in critical condition, in the attack near the city of Hebron, before announcing that two of them had been killed.
While the Israeli army imposed a security cordon on the city of Hebron and a number of neighboring villages, it said in a statement that “the IDF forces are continuing combing operations.”
The Israeli army also announced in another statement that it had begun “anti-terrorism” operations in the occupied West Bank. It said in a statement, “Soldiers are currently carrying out operations inside the homes of terrorists and the homes of other suspects,” referring to operations taking place in the city of Hebron, located near the site of the attack, and witnessing a “complete closure,” and in “other areas” of the Palestinian territories.
Netanyahu ordered his Likud party to cancel all its electoral activities scheduled for Friday morning, following the shooting incident in the occupied West Bank, which occurred days before the general elections.
Likud said in a statement that Netanyahu "issued instructions to cancel all political activities that the party intended to organize this morning, following the serious attack at the Judea Junction."
Netanyahu also said, according to a statement issued by his office, that Israel prevented a “large-scale attack” in the West Bank, explaining that he ordered the imposition of an immediate closure on the city of Hebron, in addition to a “complete closure” of the West Bank.
He added: "We will pursue Hamas terrorists and their coordinators everywhere and at any time. There is no safe place for you," he said.
For its part, Hamas did not announce its adoption of the operation, but it praised it, according to a statement published on an account attributed to the movement on the Telegram platform.
The statement stated, "The unique, heroic operation in the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank is a living embodiment of the will of our steadfast people, and a clear message to the Zionist enemy that our resistance continues and will increase in strength and violence until the occupation is defeated from our land and our sanctities."
He added, "We affirm that this heroic operation at the northern entrance to the city of Hebron comes within the framework of the natural and legitimate response to the continuing crimes and brutal attacks against our people, our land, and our sanctities in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, and the continued aggression against our people in Gaza."
The statement also called on the Palestinians "in all cities, villages and camps to mobilize on comprehensive alert and ignite a fire under the feet of the invaders and settlers who have wreaked havoc on the proud land of the West Bank."
He also said, "As we mourn for our Palestinian people and our nation the perpetrators of the operation who rose in an armed clash with the soldiers of the occupying Zionist enemy forces, we affirm that our stationed people will not surrender or relent, and will continue the path of resistance and rejection of occupation, injustice and aggression, and will not lay down arms until the aggression stops, the occupation of our land is ended, and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque is cleansed of the desecration of the usurping settlers."
The Director General of the Magen David Adom (Israeli Ambulance Service), Eli Ben, stated that the injured suffered severe wounds resulting from the gunfire, and received first aid from emergency crews and army forces who were present at the scene of the accident.
Agence France-Presse reported, "Video clips published by paramedics showed the lifeless body of a person wearing civilian clothes lying on the ground near a gas station, while Israeli forces were conducting their patrols around."
The Palestinian Ma'an Agency published that Israeli forces "sent reinforcements to the area and imposed a siege on a number of nearby villages, while combing operations continued."
Meanwhile, the far-right Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, called for a military campaign in the West Bank, “just as in Gaza.”
Smotrich, who also holds a position in the Ministry of Defense, said on the X platform, “There is no other option but to launch a comprehensive military campaign... to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, collect weapons and eliminate terrorists, just as in Gaza and Lebanon.”
The far-right minister said in a statement, "We should not wait for another October 7th (in the West Bank). There the next war will break out," adding, "We must act before it is too late. The Palestinian Authority must be dismantled and disarmed, and its terrorist infrastructure must be completely eliminated."
