Netanyahu warns of major West Bank military operation after attack kills Israeli soldiers
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened a military operation in the occupied West Bank on a scale unseen in decades after Palestinian fighters killed two Israeli soldiers on Friday in an attack near Al-Khalil days before Israel’s general elections.
A first step would see residents displaced, homes searched and infrastructure destroyed, said the premier, who is in the midst of a tight race for a new term in Tuesday’s vote.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military would apply a model previously used in refugee camps in the northern West Bank, scene of a large-scale operation launched in January 2025 that the UN said forcibly displaced thousands.
Hamas’ resistance group praised the attack as a “heroic operation” and called on supporters to carry out more.
The Gaza-based group called the attack a “natural and legitimate response to the ongoing crimes and brutal attacks against our people”.
Three Israelis were also wounded in the attack before the gunmen were shot dead, officials said. It happened at a military checkpoint at the entrance to the city of Al-Khalil.
Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to prepare for a full lockdown of the West Bank, beginning later on Friday.
The attack comes at a time of high tensions, with extremist Jewish settlers targeting Palestinians during the annual olive harvest, and Israel’s general election taking place in four days time.
Unverified CCTV footage shows two gunmen exit a car armed with what appears to be a handgun and an assault rifle and start firing on soldiers at the checkpoint, before coming under return fire.
The attack has already begun to influence the ongoing election campaign, with Netanyahu – who has built his campaign on the promise of security – saying that his Likud party would cancel campaign events which had been set for Friday morning.
He also visited the site of the attack on Friday afternoon, saying Israel is ready for “extensive action” in the West Bank.
His far-right coalition partner Bezalel Smotrich called for Israel to launch a campaign in the West Bank “exactly like in Gaza or Lebanon,” while far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for Israel to dismantle the Palestinian Authority.