Two gunmen were shot dead by Israeli troops near Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Friday morning after a shooting that wounded five Israelis, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to order an immediate cordon around the city and preparations for a full closure of the West Bank four days before Israel’s general election.
The attack happened around 7:30 a.m. at the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint near Yehuda Junction on Route 35 outside Hebron, according to media reports. Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said all five wounded were Israelis in their 20s, two of them in critical condition; they were taken to hospitals in Jerusalem.
The two attackers, both reported to be 27-year-old Hebron residents, were armed with an M16 rifle and a handgun and arrived in a car with Israeli license plates, reports said. An AFP journalist at the scene witnessed the gunfight near a petrol station, and the military said soldiers from the Ari Battalion killed both attackers after an exchange of gunfire reported to have lasted about 20 minutes.
Closure through the election
Netanyahu convened an emergency security meeting and ordered all Likud campaign events for Friday cancelled. “I salute the courage of our soldiers who acted with determination and prevented what could have been a major attack,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “I have instructed the IDF and the security forces to immediately impose a closure on the city of Hebron and to prepare for a full lockdown across all of Judea and Samaria starting today,” he added. He said security forces were carrying out extensive waves of arrests and vowed to pursue Hamas “everywhere and at all times.”
Hamas praised the attack as a “heroic operation” but did not claim responsibility. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir demanded the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority, though officials presented no evidence linking the PA leadership to the shooting.
Election four days away
The attack lands four days before Israel’s general election on Tuesday, Oct. 27, a vote widely seen as consequential and expected to be tightly fought. West Bank violence has been rising since October 2023. This is a developing story, and casualty and closure details may be updated as officials release more information.
Sources: Reuters; New York Post; TBS News
