Israel Launches Major West Bank Operation After Two Soldiers Killed
The Israel West Bank operation began on Friday and is expected to last several days, with searches and building demolitions, after gunmen killed two soldiers near Hebron.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is locked in a tight race to keep his job in Tuesday’s vote, having campaigned on promises to keep Israelis safe. He and his right-wing allies visited the scene of the attack and pledged a harder line on West Bank militancy.
Security forces are searching targets and questioning suspects to “locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure” in the Hebron area, from where the attackers emerged, according to a joint statement from the Israeli military and the Shin Bet domestic security agency.
Israel West Bank operation: lockdown and demolitions
Forces are also demolishing structures that the military says could pose a security threat at the site of the encounter. The statement, released late on Friday, said “counterterrorism operations” were under way at dozens of locations.
Netanyahu credited the soldiers with having “prevented what could have been a major attack”, and ordered a lockdown in the West Bank. Visiting Hebron, he 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.
The first step, he said, would see forces “enter the neighbourhood from which the terrorists came, evacuate the residents, go from house to house, and destroy the terrorist infrastructure”. The military would apply a model used in refugee camps in the northern West Bank, where a large-scale operation launched in January 2025 displaced thousands, according to the United Nations.
The attack that triggered the operation
A Hebron-based AFP photographer heading to another assignment witnessed the gun battle break out at the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint between the soldiers and two Palestinian men armed with a handgun and an automatic rifle. Israeli forces eventually shot dead the attackers.
Hamas, without claiming responsibility, praised Friday’s fatal attack as a “heroic operation” and called on supporters to carry out more.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds a position within the defence ministry, called for a large-scale military offensive in the West Bank “exactly like in Gaza”. He said authorities were “sending an unequivocal message to our enemies: if you mess with the Jews, you will pay a very painful price.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said the Ramallah-based “Palestinian Authority must be dismantled”. No evidence suggests that the Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank, was connected to Friday’s attack. Both Ben Gvir and Smotrich are vocal supporters of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law.
International concern grows
Israeli rights group B’Tselem called for urgent international pressure to prevent what it called plans for collective punishment and acts that could constitute war crimes.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, through a spokesman, voiced concern over Israeli closures that affect Palestinian livelihoods and called for a halt to violence on all sides.
Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief who is Netanyahu’s top rival in the upcoming vote, said he was praying for soldiers wounded in Friday’s shooting.
The operation comes as tensions soar in the West Bank, including over settler attacks on Palestinian olive harvesters. Feature Pakistan has reported on Palestinian fears over a violent olive harvest and on Israeli settlers beating a French mayor in the West Bank.
An AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data puts the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the territory since October 2023 at 1,117. Israeli figures show at least 51 Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the same period.
Wider context
The operation also comes as the international community presses for restraint. Feature Pakistan covered Pakistan’s call for UN action on Palestine under Resolution 2803 and Pakistan’s condemnation of the deadly church attack in Jordan.
Netanyahu vowed to “pursue Hamas” everywhere. With an election on Tuesday, the West Bank operation is now both a security move and a political signal, and its length and scope will shape the final days of the campaign.
Frequently asked questions
Why did Israel launch the West Bank operation?
Gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers near Hebron on Friday, days before Israel’s general election, prompting a multi-day military operation of searches and demolitions.
How long will the operation last?
The Israeli military said it is expected to continue for several days, with operations at dozens of locations in the Hebron area.
