Two Israeli soldiers were killed, and three more were lightly wounded on Friday when two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a military checkpoint near Hebron in the occupied West Bank. The attack, which lasted roughly 20 minutes, prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to order a siege of the city and preparations for a broader West Bank closure, while Israeli forces began demolishing buildings and ordering residents to leave a neighbourhood linked to the gunmen.
The slain soldiers were named as Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, from Ashkelon, and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, from Hod Hasharon. Both served in the 775th “Ari” Battalion of the Home Front Command’s Search and Rescue Brigade.
The two gunmen, identified in Israeli reports as Hamouda and Firas Jua’ba from Hebron, were shot and killed at the scene. Israeli forces later found a vehicle they said contained a large quantity of ammunition, which military officials said indicated plans for a larger attack.
Netanyahu orders an immediate cordon around Hebron
The shooting took place four days before Israel’s first elections since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023. Netanyahu, who has campaigned as a security hardliner, ordered an immediate cordon around Hebron and initially spoke of a full West Bank lockdown. He later described a more limited “cordon” around Hebron and the nearby city of Halhul that could be extended. He also said the military would evacuate the area from which the gunmen came, clear it house by house, remove weapons, and destroy what he called terrorist infrastructure—following the approach used in the Jenin, Tulkarm, Nur Shams, and Al-Far’a refugee camps earlier in 2025, operations that displaced thousands.
By Friday afternoon, Israeli forces had started demolitions in the Farsh al-Hawa area of Hebron. Video obtained by news outlets showed a soldier telling residents of a housing complex they had five minutes to evacuate. The IDF and Israeli Security Agency said they were conducting targeted searches for weapons and suspects, mapping the gunmen’s residences, and demolishing “illegal structures that could pose a security threat.” Residents were allowed to leave through three designated exit points subject to screening.
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem condemned the plan
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem condemned the plan to forcibly displace residents. Executive director Yuli Novak said Israeli leaders were “announcing their next crimes in advance” and comparing the measures to earlier mass displacement in northern West Bank camps. The IDF said the operation remained focused on the area from which the gunmen operated and that further arrests and intelligence work would continue.
Hebron is the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank and a long-standing flashpoint. Under the 1997 Hebron Protocol, the city is divided into areas of Palestinian Authority control and areas under Israeli military control, with a small Israeli settlement presence in the heart of the city. Violence has recurred for decades, including shootings, stabbings, and large-scale Israeli operations.
The current events come amid heightened tensions ahead of the October 27 election and follow earlier 2025 operations in northern West Bank refugee camps that Israel described as counterterrorism measures and Palestinian groups and human rights organisations described as collective punishment and mass displacement.
