The Israeli military on Friday confirmed that two soldiers were killed in the shooting attack near Hebron in the occupied West Bank, revising the picture from earlier reports that five Israelis had been wounded. The army named the dead as Staff Sergeant Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, from Ashkelon and Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, from Hod Hasharon, and said three other soldiers were lightly injured, CBS News reported. The two Palestinian gunmen were also killed in the exchange of fire.

Source: CBS News

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the site of the attack with Defense Minister Israel Katz and pledged that the neighbourhood in Hebron where the two attackers lived would be evacuated and swept house to house. "We will evacuate the residents, go house-to-house, we will remove the weapons and all the terror infrastructure will be dealt with and destroyed," Netanyahu said, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). "Our first step will be to demolish this site and completely transform it," he added, in remarks reported by CBS News.

Source: JTA via St. Louis Jewish Light; CBS News

Netanyahu said he had ordered the IDF to cordon off Hebron, a city of more than 200,000 inhabitants, and prepare for a full closure of the West Bank. He said the army is preparing "a very broad IDF operation in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank], the likes of which have not been done since the Six-Day War. The IDF is ready to carry it out and we will determine the timing, but it is on its way," JTA reported.

Source: JTA via St. Louis Jewish Light

2Israeli soldiers confirmed killed — Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, the IDF said
3other soldiers lightly injured; the two Palestinian gunmen were also killed, the military said
200,000+residents of Hebron, the city Netanyahu ordered cordoned off, CBS News reported
~70Palestinians arrested in West Bank operations over the past week, the IDF said

Following the shooting, the IDF said it had launched "offensive counterterrorism operations" in the Hebron area and that soldiers were operating inside the residences of the shooters and other suspects. The military said a large amount of weapons and ammunition was found in the attackers' vehicle and alleged the two men — armed with an M16 rifle and a handgun — had been planning a major attack on civilians, CBS News reported. That planning claim is the military's allegation and has not been independently verified.

Source: CBS News

Netanyahu called the gunmen "Hamas terrorists." Hamas praised the attack as heroic and a legitimate response to what it called Israel's "ongoing crimes and brutal attacks against our people, land, and holy sites," but stopped short of claiming responsibility, CBS News reported. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir demanded the complete dismantling of the Palestinian Authority after the incident, though officials presented no evidence linking the West Bank leadership to the shooting, News Central TV reported.

Source: CBS News; News Central TV

Earlier on Friday, Awaaz Punjab reported Netanyahu's initial order for a Hebron cordon and preparations for a full West Bank closure after the shooting. This update follows the military's confirmation of the two soldiers' deaths and the announcement of the wider operation. Read the earlier report: Netanyahu orders Hebron cordon, West Bank closure preparations

The escalation comes just days before Israel's elections on Tuesday, in which Netanyahu has made national security a central issue of his campaign, and follows a recent surge in Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, CBS News reported. Netanyahu said the shooting was an attempt to influence the elections and cancelled his party's campaign events for the rest of Friday.

Source: CBS News

What is solid

  • The IDF confirmed two soldiers — Roytman, 23, and Svilem, 20 — were killed and three others lightly injured near Hebron; the two gunmen were also killed (CBS News, JTA)
  • Netanyahu ordered Hebron cordoned off, the attackers' neighbourhood evacuated and demolished, and preparations for a full West Bank closure (CBS News, JTA, AnewZ)
  • Netanyahu said a broader IDF operation 'not seen since the Six-Day War' is prepared, with its timing still to be set (JTA)

What is only claimed

  • The IDF's claim that the gunmen were planning a major attack on civilians is an allegation based on weapons and ammunition it says were found in their vehicle; it has not been independently verified
  • Netanyahu called the gunmen 'Hamas terrorists'; Hamas praised the attack but did not claim responsibility, and no evidence linking the Palestinian Authority to the shooting was presented, reports said