Israeli security forces carried out raids across the occupied West Bank and detained dozens of Palestinians on Saturday, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a full closure of the territory following a shooting in Hebron that killed two Israeli soldiers, according to Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera correspondents reported that at least 15 towns in the northern West Bank were targeted, among them Nablus, Jenin, Tubas and Qalqilya. In the south, clashes broke out on Saturday morning between Israelis and Palestinians in the Dura area of Hebron, Israel's Walla news outlet reported, as cited by Al Jazeera.
The lockdown follows an attack on Friday near the settlement of Telem, where the Israeli military said two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a reserve battalion. The military later said it had killed both attackers. Israel's ambulance service initially reported at least five soldiers wounded, two of whom died. All Israeli settlements, including Telem, are illegal under international law.
Why it matters
The closure places nearly 1,000 checkpoints and gates across the West Bank under shutdown, cutting off movement for millions of Palestinians, Al Jazeera reported. Its correspondent Nour Odeh, speaking from Birzeit, said villages and towns are now "completely isolated" because roads and crossings linking Palestinian communities have been closed.
The measures come days before Israeli elections on Tuesday, a period in which tensions across the territory had already been rising. Al Jazeera reported that settlers and soldiers have carried out violent attacks, with assaults on olive harvesters widespread in the run-up to the vote.
Demolitions and displacement in Hebron
In Hebron, Israeli bulldozers tore down a three-storey building, giving families five minutes to gather their belongings, according to Al Jazeera. Troops also ordered hundreds of Palestinian families to leave their homes in the Ein Deir Bahha area and nearby, and surrounded the house of one of the suspects in Friday's shooting.
Odeh described what she called "a very tough night" in Hebron's al-Jalda neighbourhood, where 200 families were forced from their homes. "They carried small bags of clothes with them but did not have time to take any other belongings," she said. The Hebron municipality has opened temporary shelters, but it is not clear how long the families will remain displaced.
The Israeli army said late on Friday that its Hebron operation would continue "for several days." Palestinians, however, fear it could last far longer. Odeh said Netanyahu's promise to apply what he called the successful model used in the Tulkarem and Jenin refugee camps has raised fears of months of displacement and the loss of homes to large-scale demolitions.
Raids spread across the northern West Bank
In Nablus, Israeli forces made arrests and searched Palestinian homes in the villages of Jalud and Qaryut, Al Jazeera reported. Arrests were also reported in Arrabeh and Burqin near Jenin, while troops entered Tubas and the nearby town of Aqqaba. Further east, forces entered Jericho and the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp.
The Palestinian Authority warned about the dangers of what it called the "ongoing Israeli escalation" and urged the international community to step in without delay. Hamas said in a statement that actions by the occupation and its settlers against Palestinians "will only fuel further outrage."
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded to the soldiers' deaths by calling for Israel to take full control of the West Bank, where the government has been encouraging settlement construction. Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative party, told Al Jazeera that incitement by far-right Israeli ministers is deepening the crisis. He said the closure turns every city and village into "a small prison," with checkpoints and gates blocking access to healthcare, the economy and education, and warned that collective punishment "will lead to explosions."
The coming days will show whether the Hebron operation extends beyond the army's stated timeframe and whether the closure holds through Tuesday's election.
