Israeli military kills 2 in Hebron gun battle as tension soars in West Bank
Netanyahu ordered a full West Bank lockdown after Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in a gunfight at a checkpoint north of Hebron.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a full lockdown of the occupied West Bank after Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in a gunfight at a checkpoint north of Hebron, Al Jazeera reported.
The order came on Friday morning, shortly after the Israeli military said it had shot dead the two men following an exchange of fire. Netanyahu said on social media that security forces had prevented a 'major attack', according to the report.
Israel's ambulance service said at least six Israeli soldiers were injured in the shooting, two of them critically, while witnesses in the area said the gunfight lasted about 20 minutes, complicating the evacuation of the wounded.
Images shared by the AFP news agency appeared to show a man holding a handgun during the exchange, the report said. The military later arrested two more Palestinians and sealed off the town.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded by calling for tougher measures, saying the Palestinian Authority 'must be dismantled and demilitarised', while Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine praised the attack, according to Al Jazeera.
The violence comes amid soaring tensions across the territory. Al Jazeera's Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah, noted the clampdown arrives at a moment of precarious calm, with settler attacks intensifying ahead of Tuesday's Israeli elections.
Source: Al Jazeera English — TrendWire reports stories in its own words; facts should be confirmed against the original source.