Netanyahu orders massive West Bank offensive after Hebron checkpoint killings

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has authorized a large-scale military operation in the West Bank following a checkpoint attack near Hebron that killed two soldiers and injured three others. Speaking from the site of the incident, Netanyahu described the planned campaign as comparable in scale to the 1967 war that resulted in Israel's initial occupation of the territory. He stated that the goal is to completely alter the physical environment of the area.

Israeli military bulldozers began leveling homes in the neighborhood where the shooting occurred on Friday afternoon. The operation has already displaced hundreds of Palestinian residents. The army confirmed that soldiers were positioned behind concrete barriers when two gunmen opened fire. A firefight lasted approximately 20 minutes before troops killed the attackers. The military has since imposed widespread closures in Hebron, the most populous city in the occupied West Bank, to restrict movement.

Netanyahu compared the current plan to last year's assault on two Palestinian refugee camps in the northern West Bank. That previous operation displaced tens of thousands of people. Human Rights Watch characterized those expulsions as war crimes, a claim Israel rejects. The local human rights group B'Tselem has urged foreign governments to intervene to stop what it calls a new wave of ethnic cleansing and war crimes.

The escalation coincides with a period of increased violence and land seizures by Israeli settlers. The United Nations Human Rights Office for the occupied Palestinian territory has described the situation as a new level of dehumanization of Palestinians. Israel currently controls movement across the territory using approximately 925 checkpoints, roadblocks, and earth mounds. The UN office notes that these barriers make movement in and around Hebron difficult.

Political analysts link the magnitude of the response to the national elections scheduled for October 27. Polls indicate that Netanyahu and his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, are running neck and neck. Neither leader currently holds enough support to form a government independently. Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said Netanyahu is using security measures to secure his position as the protector of Israel.

Citrinowicz described the eviction of families from the attackers' neighborhood as collective punishment, noting that there is no evidence linking the displaced residents to the gunmen. He argued that preventing future attacks requires providing hope and economic stability rather than harsh punitive measures. Other analysts share the view that the operation is primarily a political strategy to maintain power rather than a long-term security plan.