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The Israeli army says two soldiers were killed in an attack in the occupied West Bank on Friday that also left two Palestinian gunmen dead, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to order the closure of the Palestinian territory.
The army said two soldiers were killed and three others were lightly wounded during an attack by gunmen near the Yehuda Junction, outside the city of Hebron.
The army said it had prevented a “terror attack against Israeli civilians” and that the two suspects, both Palestinians from Hebron, were armed with an M16 assault rifle and a handgun.
It said the men arrived at an Israeli military position in the morning, triggering an exchange of fire lasting approximately 20 minutes, after which the gunmen were killed by Israeli troops.
An armed man is shown near a checkpoint in Hebron on Friday. Subsequent photographs by AFP show the man flat on his back on the ground. (Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images)
Following the shooting, Netanyahu held an emergency meeting of his security cabinet and officials from top military and security agencies.
The prime minister’s office said it instructed security forces to immediately cordon off the city of Hebron and prepare to fully close all of the West Bank, starting Friday.
Netanyahu blamed Hamas, saying the militant group was “planning a major attack aimed at murdering innocent civilians.”
“Our brave soldiers thwarted this attack with courage and determination,” he said, without elaborating on what the planned attack entailed.
Later Friday, Israel’s military said its forces had begun “conducting precise, targeted and thorough searches” in the area of Hebron from which the two gunmen were said to have operated.
It said in a statement that this operation was expected to continue for several days, and all residents living in the area will only be able to leave through three designated exit points following “questioning and security screening.”
The army said it has started demolishing infrastructure that poses a “threat” and that its soldiers continue operating across the West Bank.
5 injured
Emergency responders said five people were injured in the incident, some critically, and were being taken to hospitals in Israel. A statement from the responders said gunfire was still ongoing as they arrived at the scene of the attack near the Yehuda Junction in the morning.
Two men in their 20s had gunshot wounds to their lower limbs, and one was unconscious and seriously injured, the responders said.
“We arrived at a difficult scene while shooting was still taking place in the area,” said Tzuriel Edri with the response team.
An investigation was underway, authorities said.
Raids conducted across West Bank
It comes as Israeli voters will decide next Tuesday whether to grant Netanyahu yet another term as prime minister.
Ahead of the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that triggered the war in Gaza, Netanyahu said the Palestinian militant group could attack Israel in a bid to influence the outcome of the elections. He did not provide evidence to back up the claim.
Also Friday, the army said soldiers and Israeli security and intelligence agencies conducted dozens of operations in the West Bank and apprehended dozens of people, including those affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups.
It also said it had located weapons, including M16 rifles and submachine guns.
Eyal Zamir, the Israeli army’s chief of staff, said a “large quantity of ammunition was found” in a vehicle used by the gunmen. “This ammunition was intended to be used in a larger-scale attack,” he said.
WATCH | Palestinian teen predicts his own demise:
‘I accept that I’m next’: West Bank teen foreshadows his death
When CBC News visited the village of Al Mughayyir in the Occupied West Bank in April, 17-year-old Omar Nassan took us to a cemetery where his friends were buried. He anticipated he would also die soon. Turns out, he was right.Closure condemned
Closures of the West Bank, such as the one ordered Friday, are growing more common in the territory. It’s the fourth time in the past month that Israel has imposed restrictions across the area, shutting gates and checkpoints connecting Palestinian villages to major roads.
Netanyahu said on Friday that the military would force Palestinians out of a Hebron neighbourhood from which he said the attackers had emerged, likening the tactic to Israel’s devastating assaults on two Palestinian refugee camps in 2025.
Human Rights Watch said those expulsions amounted to war crimes, something Israel rejects.
Friday’s violence also comes as the West Bank has experienced a surge in Israeli settler violence during this year’s Palestinian olive harvest.
Settlers have attacked Palestinians as well as European diplomats and a prominent Washington Post photojournalist, and Amnesty International warned that the olive harvest has turned “into a season of horror” for Palestinian families.
U.S. congressional candidate Brad Lander, who was in the West Bank on Friday, said the Israeli army’s closure following the attack was an example of Israel enforcing an apartheid system on Palestinians.
“It’s part of the effort to take more control, to make Palestinian life impossible,” Lander, who was detained by Israeli forces Wednesday, said in an interview.