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Netanyahu orders ‘very extensive’ operation in West Bank after two Israeli soldiers killed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

23 October 2026 18:20 (UTC +04:00)

Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the army to prepare for a “very extensive” operation in the occupied West Bank after two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinians were killed in an exchange of fire near a checkpoint in Hebron, Guardian reports.

Netanyahu said the military would go house to house and demolish homes in an operation on a scale unseen in the occupied West Bank for decades, after the Israeli military said it had thwarted a “terror attack” by two armed Palestinians on Friday, amid heightened tensions before next week’s election.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the two assailants opened fire on soldiers at a temporary checkpoint outside Hebron after failing to reach a nearby highway, where the Israeli military believes they had intended to attack civilians. According to a preliminary military investigation, the ensuing gunfight lasted more than 20 minutes, leaving five Israelis wounded, two of whom later succumbed to their injuries.

An AFP photographer who was en route to another assignment and witnessed the gun battle saw two Palestinian men armed with a handgun and an automatic rifle exchanging fire with Israeli forces.

Netanyahu’s office later said it had instructed security forces to immediately cordon off Hebron and prepare for a full closure of the West Bank starting on Friday.

After the shooting, the Israeli prime minister held an emergency meeting of his security cabinet and officials from top military and security agencies. He said Hamas was “planning a major attack aimed at murdering innocent civilians”.

During a visit to Hebron after the attack, Netanyahu later said Israeli forces would enter the neighbourhood of the attackers and displace its residents. He said the military would apply a model previously used in refugee camps in the northern West Bank.

A large-scale military operation named the “Iron Wall” launched in January 2025, forcibly displaced tens of thousands of people across several refugee camps, according to the UN rights office.

“We will evacuate the residents, we will go from house to house, we will also seize the weapons there, and all the terrorist infrastructure will be dealt with and destroyed,” Netanyahu said, according to his office.