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Two suspected Palestinians were killed, and five Israelis were wounded, two critically, in a shooting attack at Judea Junction near Hebron on Friday, days before Israel's Oct. 27 election.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his Likud party to cancel all political events Friday morning following the attack, the party said.
"I have just concluded a situation assessment with the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff, the Head of the Shin Bet, the Head of the National Security Council, and the Commander of Central Command. I commend our heroic fighters who acted with determination and prevented a major terrorist attack, and I wish a speedy recovery to our wounded," Netanyahu wrote on X.
"I have instructed the IDF and the security forces to immediately impose a closure on the city of Hebron and to prepare for a full lockdown across all of Judea and Samaria starting today," he added.
"Our forces are operating with enhanced strength to thwart terrorism and are carrying out extensive waves of arrests. We will pursue Hamas terrorists and their dispatchers everywhere and at all times. You have no safe haven," the Israeli prime minister added.
The shooting took place early Friday at Judea Junction on Route 35, also known as the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint. The Israeli military said the assailants arrived in a car and were armed with an M16 rifle and a handgun. An Israeli security source told Haaretz that the car had Israeli license plates.
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist who witnessed the firefight said two Palestinian men in casual attire exchanged fire with Israeli forces at the checkpoint. The two were shot dead next to a petrol station.
The Israeli military said the Ari Battalion’s deputy commander and a company commander, who rushed to the scene, killed the assailants.
"IDF soldiers eliminated two terrorists and continue searches in the area," the Israeli military said in a statement.
Israel Police opened an investigation and said the background was nationalistic, according to Ynet. Police said they began collecting witness statements and evidence at the scene.
Israeli forces set up checkpoints and imposed a cordon on Hebron and several villages in the area.
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir arrived at the scene and held a situational assessment with the Central Command chief and other senior officers.
"This was a serious attack. The troops’ swift action prevented an even more serious attack and further harm to civilians and security forces," Zamir said.
Zamir said a large quantity of ammunition was found in the assailants’ car.
"A large quantity of ammunition was found in the vehicle in which the terrorists arrived at the scene of the attack, which was intended to be used to carry out a larger-scale attack," he said.
Zamir approved Central Command’s preparations for a full cordon on Hebron and other villages, along with more arrests and stronger intelligence efforts. He also told the army to prepare to send more forces to Central Command as operational needs require.
The attack comes amid a political clash.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that, based on information in the military’s hands, hostile actors intended to attack Israel and carry out attacks on election eve or during it to influence the results, Ynet reported.
"Every attack on Israel and every attack to come, God forbid, will be recorded in the names of Yair Lapid, Naftali Bennett, Yair Golan and their friends in the opposition," Katz said.
He accused opposition members of continuing to attack the prime minister and him and of casting doubt on their considerations in warning and alerting.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid replied.
"The defense minister’s irresponsible and hysterical statement is a gift to Israel’s enemies. Once again the government of failure is looking for excuses and culprits for the failures of Netanyahu and the incompetent gang around him. They failed to eradicate Hamas, failed to topple Iran, failed to eliminate Hezbollah, failed in the international arena. And now they blame the opposition. What cowardice. What an admission of their inability to run the country and give citizens security," Lapid said.
Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief and Netanyahu’s leading rival in the election, accused Katz of "preparing the ground for the next disaster and shifting responsibility in advance."
"The absurdity in which a defense minister blames political rivals for the enemy’s attacks before they have even happened is an unprecedented low. Our army is strong, but the leadership is rotten and dangerous," Eisenkot said.
After Friday’s attack, Eisenkot wrote on X that he prays for the full and speedy recovery of the wounded, praised the soldiers’ "heroism" and said, "according to IDF assessments, they prevented a larger attack on civilians."
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for dismantling the Palestinian Authority.
"We have to act before it’s too late. The Palestinian Authority must be dismantled and demilitarised, and its terror infrastructure wiped out completely," Ben Gvir said.
In a post on X, he said the event again illustrates what he has said in the cabinet for four years.
"There cannot be a situation where within Judea and Samaria we have a terror state. We must dismantle them, we must stop the movement, the shared roads here of Jews and Palestinian Authority residents. The freedom of movement of Palestinian Authority residents is less important than our right to live," Ben Gvir wrote.
"I say it in the clearest way: dismantle the Palestinian Authority, dismantle them! There cannot be a terror authority alongside the State of Israel," he added.
The attack comes as tensions soar in the West Bank, including over attacks by extremist Israeli settlers on Palestinian olive harvesters. Attacks by settlers and the army on Palestinians and their land have intensified during the olive harvest that began earlier this month.
According to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data, Israeli forces or settlers have killed 1,113 Palestinians in the West Bank since the Gaza war began in October 2023. Israeli figures show at least 49 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, were killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the same period.
Palestinian figures indicate about 750,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, across 194 settlements and about 400 outposts.
Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land are considered illegal under international law.
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