Israel
IDF raids Hebron after two soldiers killed in West Bank shooting
By Jewish Life Staff, . Jewish Life.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed and three others wounded when Palestinian gunmen opened fire near Hebron in the West Bank on Friday morning, and the Israeli military announced a raid on the city by that evening, Haaretz and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported.
The soldiers killed were identified by JTA as Staff Sergeant Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, from Ashkelon, and Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, from Hod Hasharon. Both Palestinian attackers were killed by Israeli troops after a firefight that, according to JTA, lasted more than 20 minutes.
What the military said happened
IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir called it a "serious attack" and said the soldiers at the scene had prevented a worse one, JTA reported. According to the military, the attackers were armed with an assault rifle, a handgun, and what the report described as a large quantity of ammunition. JTA reported that footage circulating on social media showed the two men leaving their vehicle and engaging an IDF force at a checkpoint near Route 35 outside Hebron.
The IDF said it had launched the Hebron raid late Friday and expected it to last several days, Haaretz reported. Palestinian residents, the military said, could leave through designated exit points after being screened.
What Netanyahu promised
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the site alongside Defense Minister Israel Katz and pledged an operation modeled on what he called the military's approach to Palestinian refugee camps, which he described as terrorist strongholds. "We will evacuate the residents, go house-to-house, we will remove the weapons and all the terror infrastructure will be dealt with and destroyed," Netanyahu said, as quoted by JTA.
Netanyahu also said he and Katz had reviewed plans for a far larger operation across the West Bank. "The defense minister and I have seen plans for a very extensive IDF operation in Judea and Samaria, the likes of which have not been carried out since the Six-Day War," he said, as quoted by JNS. "The IDF is ready to carry it out and we will determine the timing, but it is on its way," JTA quoted him as saying.
JNS reported that Netanyahu said Israel would also consider expanding the model to other West Bank cities and would accelerate demolition of structures along roads that the military considers threats to Israeli forces.
The election context
The attack took place with Israel's national election set for Tuesday, October 27. JTA noted the IDF was already on high alert because of the vote. Netanyahu said Israel had warned weeks earlier of attempts by adversaries to attack soldiers and civilians ahead of the election, according to JNS, which reported his claim that the soldiers "stopped it with their bodies."
Haaretz reported the raid was underway as of Friday night and was expected to continue for several days. The reports available at the time of publication did not detail what had happened inside Hebron after the operation began.