Two Israeli soldiers killed in the West Bank; Netanyahu announces major military operation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday the launch of a major military operation in the occupied West Bank, after a deadly attack on soldiers that threatens to ignite tensions just days before parliamentary elections in Israel.

Two Israeli soldiers, aged 20 and 23, were killed in the attack in Hebron (southern Israel) carried out by two Palestinians who were "eliminated," according to the army. Three other soldiers sustained minor injuries.

Four days before parliamentary elections where they will play out their political future, Mr. Netanyahu and his far-right allies immediately went to Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank, which was sealed off.

The head of government announced the launch of a large-scale operation, similar to those carried out since 2025 in Palestinian refugee camps in the northern West Bank, with the evacuation of residents and massive deployment of military resources.

In the neighborhood where the two attackers came from, "we will evacuate residents and go from house to house," he said during his visit to Hebron, wearing a bulletproof vest.

The Israeli army stated that it was conducting "counter-terrorist operations" and released a video showing soldiers deployed in the streets of Hebron.

But beyond the operations in Hebron, Mr. Netanyahu asserted that a military campaign of unprecedented scale in six decades was ready to be launched throughout the West Bank.

"The Defense Minister and I are considering a very large-scale operation (in the West Bank), the likes of which haven't been seen since the Six-Day War" in 1967, Mr. Netanyahu said. "We will set the time, but it's underway," he added.

"Just like in Gaza"

In the morning, two assailants, one equipped with an assault rifle, the other with a pistol, fired on soldiers in Hebron before being shot dead, an AFP photographer witnessed while en route to another story.

This attack comes amid heightened tensions in the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, with a rise in attacks, mostly by Israeli settlers or soldiers against Palestinians.

A pillar of the far-right government, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, called for a military campaign in the West Bank "like in Gaza", "to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, collect weapons and eliminate terrorists".

He immediately ordered the demolition of several "illegal" Palestinian structures near the site of the attack. A three-story building was razed in the afternoon, according to an AFP journalist.

"We must not wait for an October 7th to happen (in the West Bank). That is where the next war will break out," said National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, another far-right figure, who also visited the area.

Hamas, the group responsible for the attacks of October 7, 2023, hailed a "heroic operation," without claiming responsibility, calling on Palestinians in the West Bank to commit similar attacks.

In another statement, Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups justified this attack by citing Israeli policy in the West Bank and settler operations in the occupied territory.

Mr. Netanyahu vowed to hunt down all members of the Palestinian Islamist movement, "everywhere and at all times".

His main electoral rival, former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, praised the "courage of the soldiers" who "prevented a major attack".

Powder Keg

The attack occurred at an army checkpoint at a major road intersection north of Hebron, where tensions are particularly high.

The city is divided into two sectors, one controlled by the Palestinian authorities and the other, where settlers live within the city itself, by the army.

Since the attack of October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza, violence has exploded in the occupied West Bank.

More than 1,110 Palestinians have been killed there since October 2023, mostly by Israeli soldiers, according to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

In recent weeks, settlers have stepped up their attacks, some of them deadly, against Palestinians and their property, during the ongoing Palestinian olive harvest.

According to Israeli figures, at least 51 Israelis were killed over the same period, the majority in Palestinian attacks but also during Israeli military operations.

AFP