Netanyahu orders Hebron closure, prepares for West Bank lockdown

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a closure of Hebron and preparations for a lockdown across the occupied West Bank on Friday after the military said it had killed two Palestinians accused of an attack near the city. At least five Israeli soldiers were injured, two critically, according to Al Jazeera, citing Israel’s ambulance service.

Netanyahu said on social media that security forces had prevented a “major attack.” He said he had ordered them to close Hebron immediately and “prepare for a full lockdown across all of Judea and Samaria [the Israeli term for the West Bank] starting today.” His office instructed the Israel Defense Forces to “impose a closure” on Hebron and prepare for a West Bank-wide lockdown, NBC News reported. The military said it was continuing to search the area.

Magen David Adom, Israel’s primary emergency service, said it received a report of multiple casualties near Yehuda Junction at about 7:15 a.m. local time. Responders treated at least five people, including two in critical condition, it said. Al Jazeera identified the injured as Israeli soldiers and reported that the military said the two Palestinians had attacked a reserve battalion near the Israeli settlement of Telem.

The identities of the two Palestinians killed were not immediately clear as of late Friday morning, NBC News reported. Al Jazeera said the Israeli military was later reported to have arrested two Palestinians and locked down Hebron. Netanyahu canceled a series of election-related engagements, the outlet reported.

The attack came days before Tuesday’s Israeli election. Netanyahu has focused his campaign on security, and the vote is widely viewed as a test of his leadership around the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, according to NBC News. His government has repeatedly warned of possible attacks before the election without providing evidence, NBC News reported.

Tensions have also risen across the West Bank during the Palestinian olive harvest. The United Nations recorded at least 160 Israeli settler attacks linked to the harvest in the first two weeks of October, according to NBC News. The U.N. said many took place “under the protection of, or with the participation of, Israeli forces.” NBC News reported that Palestinians have also had olives stolen.

Al Jazeera reported that Israeli forces arrested 36 Palestinians during raids across the West Bank on Thursday. The outlet cited the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission as documenting 17 attacks by Israeli forces and settlers that day against farmers and their land. According to the commission, the incidents included assaults on farmers, theft of crops and farm equipment, and damage to olive trees.

Americans have also been caught up in the unrest. Brad Lander, a Democratic congressional candidate from New York, was briefly detained Wednesday while helping Palestinian farmers harvest olives, Al Jazeera reported. NBC News said activists and American rabbis were detained alongside him.

Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, responded to Friday’s attack by calling for Israel to take full control of the West Bank. “The Palestinian Authority must be dismantled and demilitarised,” he said in a statement quoted by Al Jazeera. The outlet also reported that Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine praised the attack.