Israel’s military launched a multi-day operation in the occupied West Bank on Friday night, carrying out searches, building demolitions and suspect questioning, after gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near the city of Hebron.
The operation, announced in a joint statement by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet domestic security agency late on Friday, is expected to continue for several days and comes just days before Israel holds parliamentary elections in which security has become a central issue.
What happened at the checkpoint
According to the Israeli military, two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on Friday at the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint near Hebron, killing Staff Sergeant Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, and Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem, 20. Three other Israelis were wounded in the shooting.
Israeli forces returned fire and shot dead both attackers. A Hebron-based AFP photographer who was heading to another assignment witnessed the gun battle break out between the soldiers and the two men, who were armed with a handgun and an automatic rifle.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who visited the scene, credited the two soldiers with having “prevented what could have been a major attack,” and ordered a full lockdown of the West Bank in its aftermath.
The multi-day operation
In its late-Friday statement, the Israeli military said troops alongside the Shin Bet and other security forces had launched a “targeted and limited counterterrorism operation” in the Hebron area from which it said the attackers had emerged.
The IDF said soldiers have begun conducting precise searches throughout the area to “locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure” and weapons, while questioning suspects. Forces are also “demolishing illegal structures that could pose a security threat at the site of the encounter,” the statement said, adding that “counterterrorism operations” are underway at dozens of locations.
Residents in the areas where forces are operating can leave only through three designated exit points, where they face security checks and questioning. Israeli forces have also imposed restrictions around Hebron and the nearby town of Halhul, setting up roadblocks and examining properties linked to the attackers.
Militant group Hamas, without claiming responsibility for the attack, praised Friday’s fatal shooting as a “heroic operation” and called on its supporters to carry out more attacks.
Election days away
The attack and the military response land just days before Tuesday’s parliamentary election in Israel, in which security has been a key focus of the campaign.
Prime Minister Netanyahu, locked in a tight race to keep his job after campaigning on promises to keep Israelis safe, visited the scene of the attack with his right-wing allies and pledged an even harder line on West Bank militancy.
The premier said he and Defence Minister Israel Katz were “considering a very extensive IDF operation in Judea and Samaria, such as has not been carried out since” the 1967 war — a reference to the biblical-era names Israel uses for the West Bank.
What comes next
With the IDF operation expected to run for several days and restrictions tightened across the West Bank, the coming days are likely to keep security at the top of the election agenda. The military has cautioned that individuals raising suspicion during screening at the exit points will be referred for further interrogation, while searches for weapons and suspected militant infrastructure continue.
The shooting and its aftermath also underscore the fragile security situation in the West Bank, where tensions have remained high and the outcome of Tuesday’s vote could shape Israel’s approach in the months ahead.