Netanyahu Locks Down West Bank, Launches Massive Operation After Two IDF Soldiers Killed

Just a few days away from Israel’s national elections, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a major new military and security operation in the occupied West Bank late Friday into Saturday. It is expected to continue through next week, when Israelis head to the polls.

Mass arrests are being carried out, as well as home and neighborhood demolitions. The action follows a Friday incident where two Palestinian gunmen shot and killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near Hebron.

The suspected gunmen were shot dead in the immediate security response, and the West Bank was immediately put on full lock-down, amid Israeli house-to-house searches in the neighborhood where the attackers were believed to be from. The attackers had each reportedly been armed with an M16 rifle and a handgun.

“We will act to destroy this place, ⁠to change it completely,” Netanyahu said. Already there are reports that family members and relatives of the two shooters have had their homes demolished, with area residents forcibly displaced.

The prime minister said further, “When we win the election, we’ll finish the job. We’ve completed 90 percent; we need to take it all the way, that means bringing down the Iranian regime and finishing off Hamas and Hezbollah.”

NEW: Two Israeli soldiers were killed and three wounded this morning when two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a temporary checkpoint near Hebron in the occupied West Bank. The IDF named the dead as Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, from Ashkelon, and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, from Hod Hasharon. Netanyahu ordered preparations for a full closure of the West Bank ahead of Israel’s October 27 election.

— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 23, 2026

And so the timing of the decision to lock down the whole of the West Bank is obviously politically driven to a large degree, in order to signal Israel domestically.

Al Jazeera reports that already some 2,200 local Palestinians have been expelled from their homes:

• Hebron Mayor Yousef al-Ja’bari tells Al Jazeera around 2,200 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from their homes in the city’s al-Jalda and Ein Deir Bahha neighbourhoods, as Israeli forces continue military operation in the occupied West Bank.
• Israeli forces arrest scores of Palestinians across the West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club rights group says, with raids reported in 15 areas, including Ramallah, Jenin, Nablus, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Al-Bireh and Birzeit.

Tensions were already soaring even more this latest attack on an Israeli checkpoint, and so this new large-scale operation could bring more such incidents, given Palestinians perceive that the likely end goal of Israeli forces is to eradicate their existence from the land.

Reports of large iron gates erected around Hebron:

Israel seals Hebron with 106 iron gates and moves to annex Ibrahimi Mosque amid West Bank siege —— Israeli authorities have severed Hebron from the rest of the occupied West Bank, sealing the governorate behind 106 iron gates and blocking 16 major access roads with earth mounds. Hebron Governor Khaled Dodin revealed during a press conference that the sweeping military closure serves as a physical framework for the systematic annexation of the historic Ibrahimi Mosque, according to Anadolu Agency. Occupation forces have advanced unauthorized construction on the sanctuary’s roof while seizing municipal infrastructure, water networks, and electrical controls. The administrative takeover was codified when Tel Aviv stripped the Hebron Municipality of its legal management powers, transferring jurisdiction directly to the nearby illegal Kiryat Arba settlement. Palestinian officials denounced the move as a flagrant assault on the historical status quo of the holy site, noting that occupation forces have banned the Muslim call to prayer for ten consecutive days and barred local worshippers. The siege on the sanctuary unfolds alongside a broader colonial land grab that has seen the establishment of over 20 new illegal settlement outposts and more than 700 recorded occupation and settler attacks across the governorate.

— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) October 24, 2026

Israeli rights group B’Tselem has condemned the action, warning against “collective punishment and acts that could constitute war crimes.”

The IDF military has responded to mounting criticism by saying it is allowing Hebron and other residents viable exit points.

“The forces have begun conducting precise, targeted and thorough searches throughout the area to locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure and weapons, while questioning suspects,” the IDF and Shin Bet announced in the statement.

“The operation is targeted and limited to the area from which the terrorists operated, and is expected to continue for several days,” it added. “Residents living in the area will be able to exit through three designated checkpoints after questioning,” the statement indicated further.

🇮🇱🇵🇸 Israeli forces reportedly launched a LARGE-SCALE military raid into Hebron in the occupied West Bank overnight. Military vehicles are moving through the city’s streets as reports emerge of a major Israeli operation. Source: RoyaNewsEnglish (YT) / Writer: Sol https://t.co/Qd038annLQ

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 24, 2026

The military would also be “demolishing illegal structures that could pose a security threat at the site of the encounter,” it said. But some international monitors have pointed to another operation that paves the way for a land grab and Jewish settler expansion under the guise of a counter-terror operation.