HEBRON, West Bank – Israeli forces cordoned off Hebron on Friday, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered forces to prepare a wider closure of the occupied West Bank, after a shooting at a military checkpoint killed two Israeli soldiers. Israeli forces killed two men the military identified as the attackers.
Netanyahu’s statement set out two instructions: seal Hebron immediately and prepare for a broader shutdown starting that day. It did not establish that restrictions across the entire West Bank had already taken effect. The National reported the order following the attack near a military checkpoint.
“I have instructed the IDF and security forces to immediately cordon off the city of Hebron and to prepare for a full lockdown of all of Judea and Samaria starting today,” Netanyahu said in the statement. Judea and Samaria is the Israeli government’s term for the West Bank.
The Israel Defense Forces said two gunmen opened fire near Hebron on Friday morning and were killed. Israel described the shooting as a terrorist attack. The military named the soldiers killed as Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, and said three others were wounded, The Times of Israel reported. Early reports, including from Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency medical service, said five people were wounded, two of them critically.
Ynet reported that the confrontation lasted about 20 minutes and that troops from the Home Front Command’s Ari Battalion killed the two attackers. The outlet said one of the men was identified as a Hamas member; that identification was not independently verified for this article.
Military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir approved plans for a full cordon around Hebron and additional nearby villages, alongside further arrests and intensified intelligence work, according to Ynet. The Week reported that the cordon also covers neighbouring Halhul. Those accounts describe local military measures following the shooting; they do not establish the extent of restrictions elsewhere in the West Bank.
The immediate questions for residents are which roads and crossings remain open, who can pass through the cordon and how long restrictions will last. The reports reviewed did not provide a comprehensive list of affected crossings, an end date or a detailed account of exceptions for medical travel and other essential journeys. The West Bank and Gaza were already expected to be under lockdown on Monday and Tuesday as a security measure for Israel’s elections, The Times of Israel reported.
The order also comes amid an election campaign dominated in part by arguments over security. Eastern Herald previously examined criticism of Netanyahu’s security doctrine and reported on Donald Trump’s endorsement of Netanyahu. Neither development establishes the motive for Friday’s operational decisions, which Netanyahu announced following the shooting.
For now, the distinction between the Hebron cordon and the proposed territory-wide closure remains important. The local restrictions and preparations for wider measures were reported; the available accounts did not establish that every West Bank crossing had closed. The scope, duration and exceptions to any broader shutdown remain to be clarified.
Update, October 25: This article has been updated to report that two Israeli soldiers were killed and three wounded. An earlier version, based on initial reports, said five people were wounded.
