Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers on Friday before being shot dead by troops in the West Bank, officials said, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to threaten a major offensive in the occupied territory just days before an Israeli election.
It took place amid escalating attacks by Israeli settlers and a broader rise in violence in the territory since the 2023 Hamas-led attacks that plunged the region into war.
The attack near Hebron in the southern West Bank wounded three other soldiers, the Israeli military said in a statement.
“We will evacuate the residents, we will go house-to-house, we will also confiscate the weapons there, and all terrorist infrastructures will be dealt with and destroyed. After Netanyahu’s comments, a Reuters reporter saw Israeli bulldozers begin to demolish homes in Hebron near the site of the shooting. Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Netanyahu’s government has presided over a rapid expansion of settlements, deemed illegal by UN bodies and most countries, though Israel disputes this.
He likened the tactic to Israel’s devastating military assaults on two Palestinian refugee camps in 2025, operations that displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians. The violence comes ahead of an October 27 Israeli election, with opinion polls showing both Netanyahu and his main competitor, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, falling short of a majority in parliament. Earlier reporting noted: Netanyahu orders West Bank closure as attack wounds Israelis before election Palestinian militants wounded five Israelis in an attack on Friday (October 23, 2026) before being killed in a shootout with soldiers, leading Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to order a lockdown in the occupied West Bank days before Israeli elections. Netanyahu, facing a tight race for a new term in Tuesday’s (October 27) vote, said that Israeli troops prevented what could have been a major attack, with the two assailants allegedly carrying a large quantity of ammunition in their vehicle.
Netanyahu, whose right-wing coalition may lose its majority after Tuesday’s election, visited the site of the attack and said the military would force Palestinians out of a Hebron neighbourhood from which he said the attackers had emerged. Human Rights Watch said those expulsions amounted to war crimes, something Israel rejects. “That is exactly what we will do here,” Netanyahu said. Local residents said the homes facing demolition had no connection to the attackers. Earlier reporting noted: The Israeli military said soldiers had rushed to the Judea Junction area after the early-morning shooting and “eliminated two terrorists”.
Earlier reporting noted: Mr.
