Two Israeli soldiers killed near Hebron; Netanyahu says army is ready for a West Bank operation unlike any since 1967

Illustrative image: Israeli soldiers on a hill near Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem. Photo: Timon Studler / Unsplash (Unsplash License). It was not taken during this week’s events.

Two Israeli soldiers were killed and three others wounded on Friday, October 23, when Palestinian gunmen opened fire near Hebron in the occupied West Bank. Hours later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the army was ready for a military operation in the territory “such as has not been carried out since” 1967, the year Israel captured the West Bank.

The attack

A Hebron-based AFP photographer witnessed a gun battle at the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint between soldiers and two Palestinian men armed with a handgun and an automatic rifle, AFP reported. Israeli forces shot and killed both attackers. The army said the two soldiers “fell in combat” in the Judea Junction area.

Hamas did not claim responsibility but praised the attack and urged more. A coalition of armed factions that includes Hamas described it as a response to Israeli checkpoints. It followed another shooting in the Hebron area, reported earlier this week, that wounded five people.

What Netanyahu announced

Speaking in Hebron alongside Defense Minister Israel Katz, Netanyahu said the military “is ready to execute” a very large operation and that Israel would decide when to carry it out, according to AFP. He said the first step would be to enter the attackers’ neighborhood, evacuate residents, search homes and destroy what he called “terrorist infrastructure,” following the model used in refugee camps in the northern West Bank. A January 2025 operation there displaced thousands of people, according to the United Nations.

Netanyahu also ordered a lockdown of the territory, AFP said. The army said it had begun counterterrorism raids around Hebron, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds a post in the Defense Ministry, said home demolitions were under way. Al Jazeera led its coverage with Netanyahu’s warning of the largest operation since 1967, and its live page carried criticism of the planned lockdown as “racist” and “shortsighted.”

Election pressure

The announcement comes four days before Israel’s general election on Tuesday, October 27, in which Netanyahu faces a tight race and security is a central issue. Smotrich called for an offensive in the West Bank “exactly like in Gaza,” and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the Palestinian Authority “must be dismantled”; AFP noted there is no evidence linking the Palestinian Authority to Friday’s attack. Netanyahu’s main rival, former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, praised the soldiers’ response.

The wider toll

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,117 Palestinians in the West Bank since the Gaza war began in October 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, AFP reported. At least 51 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli operations in the same period, according to Israeli figures.

Confirmed: the two deaths, the killing of the two attackers, Netanyahu’s statement and the start of raids around Hebron. Pending: whether and when the large-scale operation begins, how long the lockdown will last, and the identities of the attackers.

Sources

• AFP via Courthouse News Service — Netanyahu launches major West Bank operation after Israeli soldiers killed (Oct 23, 2026)
• Al Jazeera — Live coverage: Netanyahu says army prepared for ‘large-scale operation’ in West Bank (Oct 23, 2026)
• TASS — Netanyahu announces largest operation in West Bank since 1967 (Oct 23, 2026)
• SagaTVec.lat — Netanyahu orders Hebron encircled and a West Bank closure prepared after shooting wounds five

Kcenia Sarapova · Middle East · Virtual editorial byline
Editorial direction: Leonidas Ferraz · October 23, 2026 · AI-assisted writing