Israel ordered the army to prepare for a full closure of the occupied West Bank on Friday, a few hours after a shooting near Hebron in which Israeli soldiers killed two men, the Associated Press reported from Hebron on October 23.

Source: Associated Press via WESA/NPR

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it had instructed security forces to immediately cordon off the city of Hebron and prepare to fully close all of the West Bank, starting Friday, AP reported. Brussels Signal, reporting separately the same day, said Netanyahu had told the Israel Defence Forces and the security services to impose the closure on Hebron and to ready a full lockdown of the whole territory from October 23, and gave no indication of how long the measures would last.

Source: Brussels Signal

The closure order followed the morning shooting near the Yehuda Junction, in which five people were wounded — two of them critically, according to Israeli emergency services — and Israeli troops shot dead the two assailants, Brussels Signal reported. AP said the military said the gunmen carried an M16 rifle and a handgun, that it had prevented what it called a terror attack against Israeli civilians, and that it did not elaborate on the target of the alleged attack. The earlier shooting report is here: Five wounded in West Bank shooting near Judea Junction

Netanyahu held an emergency meeting of his Security Cabinet and top military and security officials after the shooting, AP reported. He blamed Hamas, saying the group was planning a major attack aimed at murdering innocent civilians, and said soldiers had thwarted the attack — AP noted he did not elaborate on what the planned attack entailed and, ahead of the anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attack, had provided no evidence for an earlier claim that Hamas could attack to influence the election. Those are the prime minister's claims, reported as claims, not established facts.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the attack showed Palestinians' freedom of movement should be restricted, AP reported, and renewed his demand that the Palestinian Authority be dismantled, Brussels Signal reported. No evidence linking the Palestinian Authority to the shooting was presented in either report.

Also on Friday, the army said soldiers and Israeli security and intelligence agencies had conducted dozens of operations in the West Bank and apprehended dozens of people, including people it said were affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and had located weapons including M16 rifles and submachine guns, AP reported — the affiliations are the army's characterisation. Closures like Friday's shut gates and checkpoints connecting Palestinian villages to major roads, while Israeli roads in the territory remain open to Israeli drivers including settlers, AP said. Brussels Signal noted a full closure would prevent Palestinians from leaving the territory, including those who hold Israeli work permits.