Israel orders army to prepare full West Bank closure after Hebron shooting

The shooting near Hebron

Two assailants opened fire in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron earlier on 23 October, wounding five people before soldiers shot them dead. The Israeli army said its forces had killed both alleged Palestinian attackers and described the assault as a terror attack. Magen David Adom, Israel's rescue service, said two of the wounded were in critical condition. AFP reporters saw the two bodies lying side by side while a soldier stood guard, and RTBF, citing Israeli media, reported that the gunfire lasted about twenty minutes. Rescue footage showed a motionless person on the ground beside a petrol station while Israeli soldiers patrolled nearby. The army said troops had rushed to the area near Hebron and would continue searches there.

Injured5

Injured, critical condition2

Attackers killed2

Injured

5

Injured, critical condition

2

Attackers killed

2

Data from the article text

Netanyahu orders a West Bank lockdown

Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had ordered an immediate cordon around Hebron and told the security forces to prepare for a full closure of the entire West Bank. The Irish Examiner reported that the closure would start on Friday, 23 October, while DIE WELT, citing the Jerusalem Post, said all entries and exits from the territory would be blocked from the morning of 23 October. Netanyahu said Israel had thwarted a large attack. Blick reported that the decision followed a security consultation with the defence minister, the chief of staff, the head of the Shin Bet and the commander of Central Command. Israeli forces set up roadblocks and sealed off Palestinian villages in the region, according to DIE WELT, and n-tv reported that the closure would be accompanied by large-scale raids. Netanyahu said forces were operating with reinforcements and carrying out extensive waves of arrests, and he vowed to pursue Hamas operatives and their supporters everywhere, saying there was nowhere to hide.

Election and background

The shooting came four days before Israel's parliamentary election, according to newsORF. Israel has held the West Bank since the Six-Day War in 1967, and n-tv reports that about three million Palestinians live there alongside more than 500,000 Israeli settlers. n-tv also notes that the settlements are illegal under international law. n-tv describes the attack as occurring against a background of rising tension in the West Bank.

What remains unclear

Magen David Adom put the number of wounded at five, while DIE WELT wrote at least five, so no single count is fully settled across the reports. The reports do not identify the two attackers. Search operations in the Hebron area were still under way at the time of reporting. The Irish Examiner and Blick describe the closure as starting on Friday, 23 October, and DIE WELT ties it to the morning of that day, but none of the articles gives a planned duration for the closure.