Netanyahu orders Hebron sealed as troops raid gunmen's homes after shooting

Update, 23 October, 14:08 Israel time

The Jerusalem Post reports that the closure was ordered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and that it extends beyond Hebron. According to The Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu directed that Hebron be sealed off and that a full closure be placed on the West Bank. The paper describes the checkpoint shooting as a Hamas attack. A photograph it published, credited to the Magen David Adom spokesperson, shows the emergency service's ambulances at the scene near Hebron.

These details go further than the army's own statements cited earlier, which spoke of a cordon on Hebron and nearby villages and of activity in unnamed additional areas. The IDF has not, in the material available, described a closure of the whole West Bank, and it has not attributed the attack to Hamas. The Jerusalem Post report as received is incomplete and does not say who was treated by paramedics or what their condition was.

Separately, News.co.il reported that soldiers removed a PLO flag in Dura, a town in the Hebron area, as part of the security operation launched after the Judea Junction attack. Dura had not previously been named in the reports on the operation.

The story as first reported

Israeli soldiers and Border Police officers began an offensive operation in and around Hebron on Friday, hours after a shooting attack on troops in the southern West Bank. According to the IDF spokesperson, the Hebron area has been put under a cordon, forces are also active in additional areas, and troops are working inside the residences of the attackers as well as those of other suspects.

Emanuel Fabian, military correspondent for The Times of Israel, reported that the army described two gunmen who fired at soldiers stationed at a checkpoint, and that troops were at their homes with a view to demolishing them. He added that, per the military, Hebron and other Palestinian villages nearby are under full closure. The Hebrew outlet News.co.il identified the location as Judea Junction and said both men belong to the al-Ja'abah clan in Hebron.

Where this is happening

Hebron is the largest Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, the territory Israel's government and military refer to as Judea and Samaria. The attack took place in the sector covered by the army's Judea Regional Brigade, the command responsible for the Hebron hills. Halhul, which News.co.il also named as closed, is a Palestinian town immediately north of Hebron.

A cordon or closure, rendered in Hebrew military language as a "keter," means troops restrict movement in and out of the encircled communities. News.co.il reported that dozens of roadblocks had been set up in the area as part of the measure.

Which forces are involved

The Border Police is a branch of the Israel Police that operates alongside the army in the West Bank. Beyond that, the units taking part were named only by News.co.il. It listed Duvdevan, an undercover counterterrorism unit; the Paratroopers; the Search and Rescue Brigade; and the Judea and Samaria Border Police. It said Maglan, a special forces unit, had been rushed in to reinforce both the counterterrorism work and the defence of the area.

The same outlet said the operation is under the command of the Judea Brigade commander, in coordination with the Civil Administration, the Israeli body that administers civilian affairs in parts of the West Bank, and with the police district covering Judea and Samaria. It also reported that clearing work and the demolition of what it called illegal infrastructure had begun at the scene of the attack.

Arrests over the past week

Alongside the announcement of the Hebron operation, the military gave a summary of activity across the West Bank in recent days. In its post on X, the IDF said security forces had detained about 70 wanted individuals during the week, among them people affiliated with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and had found dozens of weapons. It listed M16 rifles, Carlo submachine guns and explosive devices. The Carlo is a type of crude, often locally produced automatic weapon common in the West Bank.

The Hebrew version of the statement, as carried by News.co.il, described the detainees slightly differently: more than 70 people, characterised as inciters and as individuals identified with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The English and Hebrew wordings therefore differ on both the precise count and on how those detained are described.

Demolitions as a response

Fabian's report links the presence of troops at the gunmen's homes to plans to demolish them. Israel has long carried out punitive demolitions of the family homes of Palestinians it accuses of attacks, a practice its government says deters violence and which critics describe as collective punishment. None of the reports say when any demolition would take place or whether orders have been issued.

What the reports do not say

The material gives no account of casualties from the checkpoint shooting, and does not say whether any soldiers were hurt. It does not state what happened to the two gunmen, whether they were killed, wounded, arrested or are being sought. Neither of the attackers is named.

There are differences in scope between the accounts. The army's own statements speak of Hebron and unnamed additional areas or villages; only News.co.il names Halhul as under full closure. The unit list, the clan affiliation and the reference to clearing work at the scene come from that outlet alone. The reports also give no indication of how long the closure is expected to last, how many people have been detained in the Hebron operation itself, or what has been found in the homes searched.