Netanyahu Orders Major West Bank Operation and Hebron Cordon After Attack Kills Two Israeli Soldiers

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that he had ordered a major military operation in the West Bank and instructed troops to cordon off Hebron, after a shooting attack by two Palestinian men left two Israeli soldiers dead.

The Israeli military said the gunmen opened fire at a junction near Hebron and were killed by forces at the scene. The army later named the dead soldiers as Staff Sergeant Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem. Three other soldiers were lightly wounded.

According to the military, a large quantity of weapons and ammunition was found in the attackers' vehicle, which it said pointed to plans for a major attack on civilians. The shooters used an M16 rifle and a handgun, the army said.

Netanyahu said he had ordered residents evacuated from the Hebron neighborhood where the gunmen lived, ahead of a house-to-house search for weapons. "Our first step will be to demolish this site and completely transform it," he said. Hebron has more than 200,000 inhabitants.

He said a wider campaign would follow. "The IDF will enter the neighborhoods from which the terrorists emerged, evacuate the residents, go house-to-house, and dismantle the terror infrastructure," Netanyahu said. "We are prepared for an extensive operation in Judea and Samaria," he added, using Israel's name for the West Bank.

Netanyahu described the gunmen as "Hamas terrorists." Hamas, which Israel and the United States have long designated a terrorist group, called the attack heroic and a legitimate response to what it described as "ongoing crimes and brutal attacks against our people, land, and holy sites." The group did not claim responsibility. It also urged armed Palestinians in the West Bank to attack Israeli soldiers and civilians in the occupied territory.

The Israeli military said it had begun "offensive counterterrorism operations" in the Hebron area and that soldiers were operating inside the homes of the attackers and of other suspects. It also said it had arrested around 70 wanted Palestinians in West Bank operations over the past week.

The escalation comes days before Israel holds elections on Tuesday, where Netanyahu has made national security a central theme of his bid for another term. He characterized the shooting as an attempt to influence the vote, recalling a warning he issued a few weeks earlier that Israel's enemies were preparing attacks to sway the election.

His Likud party said Netanyahu convened senior security chiefs on Friday and that all campaign events for the rest of the day were canceled.

The attack follows a recent surge in violence in the West Bank. It also came after Brad Lander, a New York Democratic candidate for Congress, was briefly detained by Israeli forces this week while helping Palestinian farmers during the annual olive harvest.