The situation in the West Bank has escalated once again, with the Israeli military launching a ‘targeted and limited counterterrorism’ operation in the Hebron area in response to the killing of its two soldiers this week. The operation was authorised by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just days before the elections in Israel.
According to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), military personnel are conducting precise searches throughout the area in a bid to locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure, seize their weapons, and question the suspects as part of the operation.
The IDF also said the residents can leave the area through three designated exit points after questioning and security screening. Suspicious individuals could be send for further questioning to the security forces, it warned.
“In response to the shooting attack in which 2 IDF soldiers fell and several others were wounded, the IDF along with other security forces launched a targeted & limited counterterrorism operation in the Hebron area, from which the terrorists had emerged,” the IDF said in a statement on X (previously Twitter) on early Saturday.
Why the situation escalated in West Bank again?
The situation escalated on Friday morning after a couple of Israeli soldiers, Staff Sergeant Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem, were killed in an attack by Palestinian gunmen. The Associated Press (AP) reported that the attack happened near the Yehuda Junction outside Hebron.
The suspects were armed with an M16 rifle and a handgun, and wanted to target Israeli nationals, the military said, adding the attack was thwarted following a 20-minute exchange of fire.
The attack was condemned by Netanyahu, who held an emergency meeting of the Security Cabinet on Friday, blaming the Hamas. During the meeting, he ordered that the military must cordon off Hebron immediately and prepare for a full closure of the West Bank.
Following Netanyahu’s instructions, Israeli forces launched multiple operations in West Bank, seizing weapons and taking those in custody who are likely working for Hamas. “This ammunition was intended to be used in a larger-scale attack,” Eyal Zamir, the Israeli army’s chief of staff, said, as cited by the AP.
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