Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a major military operation in the occupied West Bank on Friday after two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on an Israeli military checkpoint near Hebron, killing two soldiers and injuring three others. The soldiers killed were identified as Staff Sergeant Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem.
The Israeli military and domestic security agency announced a multi-day counterterrorism operation in the Hebron area, describing it as targeted and limited in scope. Israeli forces said they would conduct searches throughout the area to locate weapons and dismantle what they characterized as terrorist infrastructure, while questioning suspects. The military also announced it was demolishing structures deemed to pose security threats at the site of the encounter. Residents in the operational area were told they could leave through three designated exit points following security screening.
Netanyahu visited Hebron after the attack and announced plans for a broader campaign. He said Israeli forces would evacuate residents from the neighborhood where the gunmen lived, conduct house-to-house sweeps for weapons, and remove terrorist infrastructure. He characterized the refugee camps around Hebron as "essentially terrorist strongholds" and said he and Defense Minister Israel Katz were "considering a very extensive IDF operation in Judea and Samaria, such as has not been carried out since" the 1967 Six-Day War. Netanyahu said the operation would apply a model previously used in refugee camps in the northern West Bank, where Israeli troops launched a broad campaign against militant groups in early 2025 that involved demolishing hundreds of homes and displacing thousands of Palestinians.
The Israeli military confirmed it had arrested approximately 70 wanted Palestinians during operations in the West Bank over the past week. The military said a large amount of weapons and ammunition was discovered in the attackers' vehicle, alleging the gunmen had been planning a major attack on civilians. Hamas praised the shooting as a "heroic operation" and called on Palestinians in the West Bank to carry out more attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians, though the group did not claim responsibility.
Netanyahu said he believed the attack was an attempt to influence Israel's elections scheduled for Tuesday. He credited Israeli soldiers with preventing "what could have been a major attack." The prime minister also pledged to bolster Israeli settlements in the West Bank and told Israeli settlers they were "a role model for the State of Israel," vowing that "we are going to build the settlement infrastructures" alongside military operations.
The escalation drew international concern. Israeli rights group B'Tselem called for urgent international pressure to prevent Israel from carrying out "plans for collective punishment and acts that could constitute war crimes." United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, through a spokesman, voiced concern over Israeli closures affecting Palestinian livelihoods and called for a halt to violence on all sides. Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds a position within the defense ministry, called for a large-scale military offensive in the West Bank comparable to operations in Gaza.
Netanyahu's military response came as he faces a tight race in Tuesday's parliamentary elections, having campaigned on promises to keep Israelis safe and maintain security. The operation follows a recent surge in Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians and tensions in the West Bank.
