Netanyahu Orders West Bank Closure as IDF Cites Planned Attack at Hebron Checkpoint

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a full closure of the West Bank and a cordon on Hebron, hours after two soldiers were killed in a shooting at a temporary checkpoint near Yehuda Junction in Hebron on Oct. 23.

The two soldiers were identified by the IDF as Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, of Ashkelon, and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, of Hod Hasharon. Both served in the Home Front Command's Ari Battalion. Three other soldiers from the same battalion were wounded and taken to hospitals in Jerusalem.

Two 27-year-old residents of Hebron drove up to the checkpoint near an exit from the city at about 7:30 a.m. The IDF's preliminary assessment found they intended to reach Route 35 and attack civilians but concluded they could not get past the checkpoint. Armed with an M16 rifle and a handgun, they left their vehicle and fired on troops, using nearby buildings for cover. A gun battle lasting more than 20 minutes ended when the Ari Battalion's deputy commander, a company commander and an officer from the Paratroopers Brigade's 101st Battalion killed them.

The military recovered a large quantity of ammunition from the vehicle, which it said indicated plans for a larger-scale attack. Hamas claimed responsibility. The IDF and Shin Bet said they were investigating whether the two men acted alone or as part of a network. No specific intelligence warning preceded the attack, though the military said forces had already been placed on heightened alert ahead of the election.

Netanyahu announced the IDF would apply a more aggressive counterterrorism model in Hebron. The IDF sealed the city, a Palestinian city of over 200,000, and barred entry and exit. Troops were operating at the homes of the two attackers and other suspects, and the military was conducting checks of Palestinian vehicles on major roads elsewhere in the West Bank. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir instructed the Central Command to prepare additional troop reinforcements.

Netanyahu said forces were carrying out extensive waves of arrests and vowed to pursue Hamas and those who send them everywhere and at all times. The attack came after the IDF added a regular brigade to Judea and Samaria for the election period. Israel votes on Oct. 27.

Rabbi Howard Cove of Beiteinu, a nondenominational traveling shul in the Delaware Valley, said he trusts the IDF and Mossad to address the situation. He also said any Israelis harming Palestinians should face arrest. He declined to predict how the killings would affect the vote. In America, he said, affordability might be the number one issue; in Israel, he said, he would imagine it is still security.

Violence in the territory has risen during the Palestinian olive harvesting season. On Oct. 16, masked Israeli settlers attacked farmers near Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, throwing stones, using slingshots, setting trees alight and assaulting Palestinians. The United Nations recorded at least 160 settler attacks linked to the harvest in the first two weeks of October.