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Israel launches Hebron operation after two soldiers are killed, Ben-Gvir calls for PA to be dismantled
The army began what it called a targeted and thorough operation in Hebron overnight, as Palestinian groups counted 36 arrests and 17 attacks on olive farmers across the West Bank in a single day.
Key points
- Israeli forces began a 'targeted and thorough' operation in Hebron after Friday's checkpoint shooting.
- Two Israeli soldiers were killed in the attack near the settlement of Telem.
- Palestinian groups said Israeli raids on Thursday led to 36 arrests across the West Bank.
Israeli forces began what they called a “targeted and thorough” military operation in Hebron overnight, a day after two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint on the city’s northern edge.
The attackers, travelling in a car with Israeli licence plates, opened fire near the settlement of Telem on Friday. Two soldiers were killed and several more were wounded. Witnesses said the gunfire lasted about 20 minutes, slowing the evacuation of the injured. The army said it killed both gunmen.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces a general election on Tuesday, closed Hebron and ordered forces to prepare “a full lockdown across all of Judea and Samaria”, the Israeli term for the West Bank. He also cancelled campaign events.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir went further. “The Palestinian Authority must be dismantled and demilitarised, and its terror infrastructure wiped out completely,” he wrote on social media. Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the PFLP praised the attack.
Arrests and attacks on farmers
The operation follows a day of raids. On Thursday, Israeli forces arrested 36 Palestinians across the West Bank, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa and Palestinian monitoring groups. Fourteen were detained in Khirbet Jawaya in Masafer Yatta, in Hebron governorate, and 10 in the Jenin area.
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission recorded 17 attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers on Palestinian farmers on Thursday alone, in the middle of the olive harvest. It listed assaults, blocked access to groves, stolen crops and tools, burnt trees and live fire, across six governorates from Jenin to Hebron.