The escalation was prompted by a deadly shooting attack and comes days ahead of pivotal legislative elections in Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a blockade of the occupied West Bank in the aftermath of a deadly shootout between IDF troops and two suspected Palestinian gunmen at a security checkpoint.
The incident unfolded on Friday in the southern West Bank at the temporary checkpoint at the Judea Junction on Route 35. An AFP photographer who witnessed the shootout reported the two Palestinian suspects armed with a handgun and an automatic rifle exchanged fire with Israeli soldiers. Five Israelis were wounded in the attack, with two servicemen succumbing to their wounds in hospital, while the gunmen were killed on the site of the shootout, which lasted more than 20 minutes, according to a preliminary Israeli military investigation.
The Israeli military described the incident as a thwarted “terror attack” without specifying the intended target of the suspects. Netanyahu vowed a “very extensive” retaliatory operation in the aftermath of the incident, announcing the demolition of the entire neighborhood the attackers come from and displacing its residents, as well as requesting the cancellation of all political meetings on October 23.
“I have instructed the IDF and security forces to immediately blockade the city of Hebron and prepare to completely blockade the entire area of Judea and Samaria from today,” he added, referring to the West Bank by its Israeli name.
Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded even more severe retaliation, calling for the dissolution of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA). No evidence, however, has emerged thus far linking the PA to the incident.
“The Palestinian Authority must be dissolved and demilitarized, and all terrorist infrastructure must be completely wiped out,” Ben-Gvir, known for extremely hostile anti-Palestinian rhetoric and assorted controversial stunts, said.
The deadly shooting comes ahead of the high-stakes legislative election in Israel scheduled for October 27. The upcoming polls are the first voting to take place since the October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel and the ensuing Gaza war. The prolonged conflict has prompted repeated allegations against Netanyahu of deliberately dragging out the hostilities to keep his grip on power. The latest opinion polls put the incumbent PM in a tight race with Gadi Eisenkot, a former head of the IDF, and the prospects of Netanyahu losing his post remain high.
