Israel Launches Multi-Day West Bank Operation After Two Soldiers Killed in Context of Current Wars in the World

Israel's military launched a days-long operation on Friday involving searches and building demolitions in the occupied West Bank after gunmen killed two soldiers, just days before elections in which security is a key issue amid current wars in the world. The operation, announced late on 23 October 2026, targets the Hebron area from which the attackers originated and includes dismantling terrorist infrastructure at dozens of locations. [1] [2]

Israeli Forces Launch West Bank Operation

Israel's military launched an operation in the occupied West Bank on Friday that it said would last several days and include searches and building demolitions, after gunmen killed two soldiers days ahead of Israeli elections in which security has been a key focus. [1] [2] Security forces were searching targets and questioning suspects to locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the Hebron area from where they said the attackers had emerged, according to a joint statement from the Israeli military and Shin Bet domestic security agency. [1] Forces were also demolishing illegal structures that could pose a security threat at the site of the encounter, they said, adding that counterterrorism operations were underway at dozens of locations. [1] The operation is expected to continue for several days, the statement, released late on Friday, said. [1] Israeli machinery demolishes a Palestinian house following a shooting attack, in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Oct 23, 2026. [1]

Deadly Shooting at Hebron Checkpoint

A Hebron-based AFP photographer heading to another assignment witnessed the gun battle break out at the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint between the soldiers and two Palestinian men armed with a handgun and an automatic rifle. [1] Israeli forces eventually shot dead the attackers. [1] [4] On the morning of the incident, two Israeli soldiers were killed and three were wounded in the shooting near Hebron. [4] The two Palestinian gunmen were killed at the checkpoint. [1] [4] Netanyahu credited the soldiers with having prevented what could have been a major attack. [1]

Netanyahu Pledges Expanded Offensive Ahead of Election

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is locked in a tight race to keep his job in Tuesday's vote, having campaigned on promises to keep Israelis safe, and he and his right-wing allies visited the scene of the attack to pledge an even harder line on West Bank militancy. [1] [2] Visiting Hebron, Netanyahu said he and Defence Minister Israel Katz were considering a very extensive IDF operation in Judea and Samaria, such as has not been carried out since the 1967 war. [1] The first step would see Israeli forces enter the neighbourhood from which the terrorists came, evacuate the residents, go from house to house, and destroy the terrorist infrastructure, he said. [1] Netanyahu ordered a lockdown in the West Bank. [1] The military would apply a model previously used in refugee camps in the northern West Bank, he said, the scene of a large-scale operation launched in January 2025 that the United Nations said forcibly displaced thousands. [1]

Right-Wing Ministers Demand Gaza-Style Action

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds a position within the defence ministry, called for a large-scale military offensive in the West Bank exactly like in Gaza. [1] He said authorities were sending an unequivocal message to our enemies: if you mess with the Jews, you will pay a very painful price. [1] National Security Minister and far-right firebrand Itamar Ben Gvir said the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority must be dismantled. [1] It is impossible for there to be an authority within Judea and Samaria that incites murder, calls for murder, and works for murder, he told reporters. [1] No evidence suggests that the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank, was connected to Friday's attack. [1] Both Ben Gvir and Smotrich are especially vocal champions of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which have proliferated under Netanyahu's government but are illegal under international law. [1]

Hamas Praise and Rising West Bank Tensions

Militant group Hamas, without claiming responsibility, praised Friday's fatal attack on two Israeli soldiers as a heroic operation and called on supporters to carry out more. [1] According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces and settlers have killed 1,117 Palestinians in the territory since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023. [1] Israeli figures show at least 51 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations during the same period. [1] The operation comes as tensions soar in the West Bank, including over attacks by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinian olive harvesters. [1] The Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission has documented 21 attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against Palestinian farmers across six governorates in a span of 12 hours on Friday. [3] Israeli rights group B'Tselem called for urgent international pressure to prevent Israel from plans for collective punishment and acts that could constitute war crimes. [1] UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres through a spokesman voiced concern over Israeli closures that affect Palestinian livelihoods and called for a halt to violence on all sides. [1]

Context of Ongoing Regional Conflict Amid Current Wars in the World

Israel has in the Six-Day War 1967 under other the West Bank and East Jerusalem conquered and holds this area since then occupied. [4] There live today amid three million Palestinians around 700,000 Israeli settlers. [4] The situation in the occupied West Bank has since the Hamas massacre on 7 October 2023 in Israel and the thereby triggered Gaza war once again worsened. [4] After information of the Palestinian health ministry were in the West Bank since then more than 1,100 Palestinians in Israeli military operations, armed clashes and own attacks killed. [4] But also the violence of radical Israeli settlers against Palestinians has strongly increased. [4] The Israeli military is repeatedly accused, not determined enough against such attacks to proceed or even with the settlers to cooperate. [4]

What to watch next: The operation is expected to continue for several days with counterterrorism operations at dozens of locations, while Tuesday's election remains a tight race focused on security.