Five Israelis were wounded in a shooting attack on Friday before Israeli troops killed the two Palestinian assailants in a lengthy exchange of fire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by ordering a lockdown across the occupied West Bank, just days before Israel’s election.
With the race for another term set to go down to the wire on Tuesday, Netanyahu said the military had stopped what might have become a major attack. He claimed the gunmen were carrying a substantial stockpile of ammunition in their vehicle.
An AFP reporter at the scene saw two Palestinian men—one armed with a handgun and the other with an automatic rifle—trading fire with Israeli forces near the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint, close to the Palestinian city of Hebron.
The attackers were eventually shot dead by Israeli troops. The AFP journalist later saw their bodies lying beside a petrol station while soldiers secured the surrounding area.
The Israeli military said troops had been deployed to the Judea Junction area after the shooting, which took place early in the morning, and had “eliminated two terrorists”.
Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency medical service, reported that five people were wounded, including two who were in critical condition.
All five casualties were Israelis in their 20s, the service said. One man suffered gunshot wounds and was described as being in “very serious condition”.
As election day approached, Netanyahu ordered the cancellation of all political meetings for his Likud party on Friday in response to the attack.
“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 (army) and security forces to impose an immediate cordon on the city of Hebron and to prepare for a full lockdown of all of Judea and Samaria starting today,” he added, using Israel’s biblical designation for the occupied West Bank.
Netanyahu said security forces were intensifying efforts “to thwart terrorist activities” and carrying out “large-scale waves of arrests”.
The military said it had begun “offensive counter-terrorism operations in the Hebron area”, including raids on the homes of people linked to the suspected attackers and others.
Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister and a rising figure in the polls, called for the dismantling of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority following the attack.
“The Palestinian Authority must be dismantled and demilitarised, and its terror infrastructure wiped out completely,” Ben Gvir said.
There was no evidence that the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, had any role in Friday’s shooting.
Hamas, the Gaza-based group responsible for the October 7, 2023 attack—the deadliest in Israel’s history—praised the shooting as an “exceptional heroic operation” near Hebron. The group mourned the two dead gunmen but did not claim responsibility.
Hamas, a rival of the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah faction, described the attack as a “natural and legitimate response to the ongoing crimes and brutal attacks against our people”.
Netanyahu also vowed to “pursue Hamas terrorists” wherever they were, warning: “You have no place to hide.”
Gadi Eisenkot, a former army chief and Netanyahu’s leading election rival, praised the troops’ response to the attack.
“Like all Israelis, I pray for the complete and quick recovery of the injured,” Eisenkot said.
The incident comes as tensions soar in the West Bank, including over attacks by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinian olive harvesters, and days ahead of Israeli elections.
According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces or settlers have killed 1,113 Palestinians in the territory since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
Israeli figures show at least 49 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations during the same period.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.