Netanyahu Orders Hebron Cordon, West Bank Sweep After Two Soldiers Killed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday he had ordered a major military operation across the West Bank and directed troops to seal off Hebron after two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a junction near the city, killing two Israeli soldiers. The army said its forces shot the attackers at the scene. It named the dead as Staff Sergeant Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem. Three other soldiers were lightly wounded.

The army said a large cache of weapons and ammunition was recovered from the attackers' vehicle, which it said pointed to plans for a major attack on civilians. It said the shooters carried an M16 rifle and a handgun. Netanyahu called the men Hamas terrorists. Hamas described the attack as a heroic and legitimate response to what it called ongoing crimes and attacks against its people, land and holy sites, but did not claim responsibility for it. The group also called on armed Palestinians in the West Bank to strike Israeli soldiers and civilians in the territory.

Netanyahu said residents of the Hebron neighborhood where the gunmen lived would be cleared out for a house-to-house hunt for weapons. "Our first step will be to demolish this site and completely transform it," he said. He said the wider push would come after that, adding that the IDF would enter the neighborhoods from which the attackers came, evacuate residents and dismantle what he called terror infrastructure. He said Israel was ready for an extensive operation in Judea and Samaria, the name Israel uses for the West Bank. Hebron is home to more than 200,000 people.

The Israeli military said it had begun offensive counterterrorism operations in the Hebron area and that soldiers were operating inside the homes of the attackers and other suspects. It said around 70 wanted Palestinians had been arrested in West Bank operations over the past week.

The violence lands four days before Israelis vote on Tuesday, where Netanyahu has put national security at the center of his campaign for another term. He framed the shooting as an attempt to affect the vote, recalling a warning he gave a few weeks earlier that Israel's enemies were preparing attacks to sway the election. His Likud party said Netanyahu met senior security chiefs on Friday and pulled all campaign events for the rest of the day. The attack follows a recent rise in violence in the West Bank. It came days after Brad Lander, a New York Democratic candidate for Congress, was briefly held by Israeli forces while helping Palestinian farmers during the annual olive harvest.