Gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint in Hebron on October 24, 2026, prompting Israel to launch a multi-day West Bank operation including searches and building demolitions. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to search Hebron house by house, three days before October 27, 2026 Israeli elections in which he campaigns on security promises while locked in a tight race.
Hebron checkpoint attack
- ▪Hamas praised the October 24, 2026 Hebron attack on two Israeli soldiers as a heroic operation without claiming responsibility
- ▪Gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint in Hebron on October 24, 2026
- ▪Two Palestinian men armed with a handgun and an automatic rifle attacked Israeli soldiers at the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint
Israeli military operation
- ▪Benjamin Netanyahu and defence chief Israel Katz were considering a very extensive IDF operation in Judea and Samaria, such as has not been carried out since the 1967 war
- ▪A large-scale Israeli operation was launched in northern West Bank refugee camps in January 2025 that the United Nations said forcibly displaced thousands
- ▪Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a lockdown in the West Bank following the October 24, 2026 attack at the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint in Hebron
- ▪Israeli security forces were searching targets and questioning suspects to locate and dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the Hebron area following the October 24, 2026 attack
- ▪Israeli counterterrorism operations were under way at dozens of locations in the West Bank
- ▪Israel's military launched an operation in the occupied West Bank on October 24, 2026 that would last several days and include searches and building demolitions
Election campaign context
- ▪Benjamin Netanyahu is locked in a tight race to keep his job in the October 27, 2026 Israeli elections
- ▪Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing allies visited the scene of the October 24, 2026 attack in Hebron to pledge an even harder line on West Bank militancy
- ▪Benjamin Netanyahu campaigned on promises to keep Israelis safe in the October 2026 elections
- ▪Gadi Eisenkot is Benjamin Netanyahu's top rival in the October 27, 2026 Israeli elections
- ▪Israeli elections were scheduled for October 27, 2026
Far-right political response
- ▪Israeli settlements in the West Bank have proliferated under Benjamin Netanyahu's government
- ▪Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir are especially vocal champions of Israeli settlements in the West Bank
- ▪Itamar Ben Gvir serves as Israeli National Security Minister
- ▪Bezalel Smotrich holds the position of Israeli Finance Minister and also holds a position within the defence ministry
- ▪Bezalel Smotrich called for a large-scale military offensive in the West Bank exactly like in Gaza
- ▪Itamar Ben Gvir said the Palestinian Authority must be dismantled
- ▪Israeli rights group B'Tselem called for urgent international pressure to prevent Israel from plans for collective punishment in the West Bank and acts that could constitute war crimes
West Bank violence statistics
- ▪UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres voiced concern over Israeli closures that affect Palestinian livelihoods
- ▪The Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank
- ▪The October 7, 2023 attack resulted in 1,221 deaths in Israel, according to an Agence France-Presse tally from official Israeli figures
- ▪The October 7, 2023 attack was the deadliest day in Israel's history
- ▪At least 51 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the West Bank since October 2023
- ▪Israeli forces and settlers have killed 1,117 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry
- ▪UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a halt to violence on all sides in the West Bank
Perspective of Israeli right-wing coalition members (Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir)
- ▪Itamar Ben Gvir said the Palestinian Authority must be dismantled
- ▪Bezalel Smotrich called for a large-scale military offensive in the West Bank exactly like in Gaza
Perspective of International human rights observers (UN and B'Tselem)
- ▪UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a halt to violence on all sides in the West Bank
- ▪Israeli rights group B'Tselem called for urgent international pressure to prevent Israel from plans for collective punishment in the West Bank and acts that could constitute war crimes
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