{"id":228570,"date":"2026-10-24T14:46:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T14:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/israel-orders-sweeping-west-bank-operation-after-military-says-2-soldiers-were-killed-in-attack-that-left-2-gunmen-dead-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T14:46:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T14:46:18","slug":"israel-orders-sweeping-west-bank-operation-after-military-says-2-soldiers-were-killed-in-attack-that-left-2-gunmen-dead-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/israel-orders-sweeping-west-bank-operation-after-military-says-2-soldiers-were-killed-in-attack-that-left-2-gunmen-dead-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel orders sweeping West Bank operation after military says 2 soldiers were killed in attack that left 2 gunmen dead – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

For You
Settings
news Alerts
There are no new alerts at this time
Israel ordered a \u201cfull lockdown\u201d of the occupied West Bank <\/a>Friday after the Israeli military said two of its soldiers were killed during an attack that also left two Palestinian gunmen dead.
The two suspected shooters, both Palestinians from Hebron, were armed with an M16 rifle and a handgun, Israel said.
A cordon would be imposed around the cities of Hebron and Halhul and Israel would consider \u201cextending this model to other cities as well,\u201d Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> said.
Soldiers would go \u201chouse to house\u201d in areas the attackers were believed to be from, evacuate residents and destroy \u201cterrorist infrastructure\u201d and \u201cinfrastructure for settlement\u201d would be built, he added.
Photographs from Hebron showed Israeli bulldozers demolishing at least one Palestinian building.
\u201cWe are prepared for a large-scale operation in Judea and Samaria,\u201d Netanyahu said, using a name employed by some Israelis for the West Bank.
The incident comes just days before a crucial election that will decide whether Netanyahu can hold on to power.
The Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet domestic security service issued a joint statement later on Friday announcing the launch of a counter-terrorism operation in the Hebron area that was an extension of security operations started earlier in the day.
\u201cThe forces have begun conducting precise, targeted and thorough searches throughout the area to locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure and weapons, while questioning suspects,\u201d the IDF and Shin Bet said in the statement.
\u201cThe operation is targeted and limited to the area from which the terrorists operated, and is expected to continue for several days.\u201d
Residents living in the area will be able to exit through three designated checkpoints after questioning and may be referred for further questioning, according to the statement.
The military would also be \u201cdemolishing illegal structures that could pose a security threat at the site of the encounter,\u201d according to the statement.
IDF helmet cam shows gunfight with Palestinian gunmen
There has been a recent surge in Israeli settler violence and military activity in the West Bank centered on the start of the olive harvesting season, with Palestinians, activists and American journalists among those attacked and detained. Netanyahu has previously blamed<\/a> \u201ca handful of young juvenile delinquents\u201d for instances of settler violence.
In his comments Friday, Netanyahu praised settlers in the West Bank as \u201cheroic,\u201d saying they were \u201can example to the people of Israel and to the State of Israel.\u201d
Netanyahu\u2019s office said it instructed the IDF to \u201cimpose a closure\u201d on Hebron and to prepare for a \u201cfull lockdown\u201d across the entire West Bank starting Friday. It gave no further details on the planned closure of the territory.
In comments following an emergency meeting with his security cabinet and top military and security officials, Netanyahu blamed Hamas for the shooting and said the militant group was \u201cplanning a major attack aimed at murdering innocent civilians.\u201d
He cited \u201clarge quantities of weapons and ammunition discovered,\u201d but did not provide further details on the attack. He did not say whether the injured included soldiers or civilians.
The order to lock down the West Bank came hours after the Israeli military said it had killed two people <\/strong>after a shooting attack in which at least five people were initially reported injured.
The Israeli military later said two soldiers had been killed in the attack. It said three additional soldiers were lightly injured and evacuated to receive medical treatment at a hospital.
Magen David Adom, Israel\u2019s primary emergency service, had earlier said it received a report at around 7:15 a.m. local time (12:15 a.m. ET) of multiple casualties following the attack near the Yehuda Junction, near Hebron. It said first responders had provided medical treatment to at least five people, including two in critical condition.
The identities of the two people alleged to have launched the attack and who were killed by Israeli forces were not immediately clear as of late Friday morning.
The lockdown comes ahead of next week\u2019s Israeli election<\/a>, which is largely viewed as a referendum on Netanyahu\u2019s leadership around the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
Netanyahu has focused much of his campaign in the lead-up to Tuesday\u2019s vote on security for Israelis. His government has repeatedly warned of potential attacks by the country\u2019s \u201cenemies\u201d in the lead-up to the election, without providing evidence.
In the wake of Friday\u2019s attack, he noted that he had \u201cwarned several weeks ago about our enemies\u2019 attempts to harm us, our civilians and our soldiers ahead of the elections. That is what they tried to here.\u201d
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz suggested there would be a sweeping offensive in Hebron, comparing it to Israel\u2019s deadly assault in Gaza and its operations Lebanon, as well as in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank.
\u201cEvery clan neighborhood in Hebron from which the terrorists emerged today will be evacuated of its residents, and the terror infrastructure in the neighborhood will be addressed and dismantled,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the only language that jihadist terrorism understands. Just like in Gaza, just like in Lebanon.\u201d
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel\u2019s far-right national security minister, called Friday for the Palestinian Authority, the governing body that has long overseen parts of the occupied West Bank, to be dismantled in response to the attack.
\u201cThere cannot be a situation where, within Judea and Samaria, we have a state of terror,\u201d he said in a post on X. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich shared similar sentiments, saying there was \u201cno avoiding a comprehensive military campaign\u201d in the West Bank to \u201cdismantle the Palestinian authority, collect weapons, and eliminate terrorists \u2014 just as in Gaza and Lebanon.\u201d
The West Bank has been a growing flashpoint for months, and the past week has seen another wave of settler violence and military activity in the territory as the Palestinian olive harvesting season has gotten underway.
American nationals are among those who have come under attack while accompanying Palestinian farmers on their harvests. Earlier this week, New York congressional candidate Brad Lander was detained in the area alongside a number of activists and American rabbis.
Settler violence has long flared during the olive harvesting season, but in the years since the Oct. 7 attacks, violence has increased sharply, with Palestinians also seeing their olives stolen.
According to the United Nations, at least 160 Israeli settler attacks linked to the olive harvesting season were recorded in the first two weeks of October alone. The U.N. said many of those attacks were carried out \u201cunder the protection of, or with the participation of, Israeli forces.\u201d
Netanyahu\u2019s government has backed settler expansion in the West Bank despite international condemnation.
The mounting settler violence has increasingly been described as terrorism by some global officials, including by U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
As of the end of August, at least 322 Palestinians were reported killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since January 2025, including 74 children, with more than 5,900 injured, according to data published<\/a> by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The majority were killed by Israeli forces. It was not clear from the U.N. data how many of those killed might have been militants.
More than 3,400 attacks by Israeli settlers resulting in casualties and\/or property damage were reported within that same time.
At least 20 Israelis were reported to have been killed by Palestinians in the West Bank within that time frame, including one child and eight members of Israeli forces, with more than 120 injured, according to the U.N. data.
Chantal Da Silva reports on world news for NBC News Digital and is based in London.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For YouSettings news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeIsrael ordered a \u201cfull lockdown\u201d of the occupied West Bank Friday after the Israeli military said two of its soldiers were killed during an attack that also left two Palestinian gunmen dead.The two suspected shooters, both Palestinians from Hebron, were armed with an M16 rifle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":228571,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}