Hebron Shooting Triggers Israeli West Bank Lockdown Threat

Israeli forces killed two Palestinian gunmen after a checkpoint shooting near Hebron on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a cordon around the city as he prepared a full West Bank lockdown. The attack wounded five Israelis, including two soldiers who later died, according to Haaretz. The Associated Press, UPI and Middle East Eye also reported five wounded; Arab News reported three soldiers wounded. Accounts differ on the toll, but Israel’s leaders announced a sweeping response.

The apparatus moves in

The Israeli military said the men launched the attack and soldiers stopped what it called a “terror attack against Israeli civilians.” It said the gunmen carried an M16 rifle and a handgun. Arab News reported that troops found a large quantity of ammunition in their vehicle, while UPI said the military believed the men intended a wider attack targeting nearby Route 35. The Associated Press reported, citing Israeli media, that the two men were in their 20s and belonged to the same family in Hebron. Middle East Eye said Israeli forces killed them after a 20-minute exchange of fire.

Netanyahu said troops were carrying out stepped-up operations and large-scale waves of arrests. During a visit to Hebron, he said Israeli forces would enter the attackers’ neighborhood and displace residents. “We will evacuate the residents, we will go from house to house, we will also seize the weapons there, and all the terrorist infrastructure will be dealt with and destroyed,” he said, according to his office.

He said he and the defense minister were weighing “a very extensive IDF (army) operation in Judea and Samaria, such as has not been carried out since the Six Day War.” He added: “The IDF is ready to execute it and we will set the timing, but it is on the way.” The military said it had launched “offensive counter-terrorism operations in the Hebron area” and was raiding the homes of suspects and others.

Middle East Eye reported that Israeli forces put Hebron “under a cordon,” closed the Ibrahimi Mosque and expelled its staff and custodians, citing the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs. The ministry called the closure “a flagrant and ongoing violation of the sanctity of Islamic holy sites and freedom of worship, as guaranteed by international conventions and laws.” Palestinian media reported that Israeli forces also raided Dura, south of Hebron, shot and wounded at least one Palestinian man, and arrested others.

Rival claims, civilian costs

Hamas praised the attack but didn’t claim responsibility. Arab News reported that the group called it a “heroic operation” and urged further violence against Israelis. Its statement described the shooting as a “natural and legitimate response to the ongoing crimes and brutal attacks against our people,” mourned the attackers and urged supporters to “mobilize fully and turn the land into a fire beneath the feet of the invaders.” Netanyahu, meanwhile, vowed to “pursue Hamas terrorists” and said, “You have no place to hide.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for the Palestinian Authority to be dismantled, saying: “This incident once again illustrates what I have been saying in the Cabinet for four years: this entity known as the Palestinian Authority must be dismantled.” Arab News reported that no evidence linked the Palestinian Authority to Friday’s attack. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a comprehensive military campaign in the West Bank, saying there was “no other option” but to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, collect weapons and eliminate militants. He later said he had “ordered the immediate demolition of a wide row of illegal Arab structures adjacent to the attack site.”

Election campaigning continued alongside the security measures. Netanyahu canceled Likud political meetings and campaigning for the day; UPI reported that he said the West Bank lockdown would begin Monday. Voters were due to go to the polls Tuesday, with Netanyahu seeking another term. Arab political parties and the Israel-based legal group Adalah asked Israel’s Supreme Court to bar partisan election observers from carrying guns at polling stations. Jewish parties led by Netanyahu and Smotrich said they planned to send about 2,000 observers to Arab neighborhoods, alleging voter fraud.

The harvest under force

The checkpoint shooting came amid attacks by extremist Israeli settlers on Palestinian olive harvesters. The Associated Press reported that settlers attacked Abu Falah while Israeli forces raided the village and used tear gas; local officials and the Palestine Red Crescent Society reported attacks in at least eight northern West Bank villages. A separate attack in Turmus Ayya left cars burned and property damaged. Palestinians make their living from olive groves concentrated in the north, while new Israeli rules barred Palestinians from working in Area C, which is under Israeli security control and includes most of the territory’s agricultural land.

Palestinian officials said at least four Palestinians had been killed and more than 100 injured since the harvest season began earlier that month. Arab News reported an AFP tally, based on Palestinian health ministry data, that Israeli forces or settlers had killed 1,113 Palestinians in the West Bank since the Gaza war began in October 2023. Israeli figures showed at least 49 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, had been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the same period. The orders from Hebron’s checkpoint reach homes and the Ibrahimi Mosque.