Israel raids towns, detains dozens of Palestinians in occupied West Bank

Israel imposes full closure of occupied West Bank after Hebron shooting kills two soldiers

Israeli forces have raided towns, detaining dozens of Palestinians, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced ordering a full lockdown of the occupied West Bank following an attack in the city of Hebron that killed two Israeli soldiers.

Israeli forces raided at least 15 towns in the northern West Bank, detaining dozens of Palestinians, Al Jazeera correspondents reported on Saturday.

The military raids targeted several northern cities and towns, including Nablus, Jenin, Tubas and Qalqilya.

In Nablus, Israeli forces carried out arrests and raided Palestinian homes in the villages of Jalud and Qaryut. Arrests were also reported in Arrabeh and Burqin, near Jenin, while Israeli forces entered Tubas and the nearby town of Aqqaba.

In the southern occupied West Bank, Israeli bulldozers demolished a three-storey building in Hebron, with families given five minutes to collect their belongings. Israeli forces also ordered hundreds of Palestinian families to forcibly evacuate their homes in the Ein Deir Bahha area of Hebron and its surroundings.

Israeli troops also surrounded the home of one of the suspects in the shooting attack that killed two Israeli soldiers in Hebron, while carrying out raids in the city’s al-Jalda neighbourhood.

The Israeli army said late on Friday that its forces began an operation in Hebron that would last “for several days”, in addition to operations by other forces in “dozens” of areas across the West Bank.

Further east, Israeli forces entered Jericho and the nearby Aqabat Jabr refugee camp.

With the lockdown, nearly 1,000 checkpoints and gates across the West Bank will be closed, affecting millions of Palestinians.

Netanyahu gave the order on Friday, shortly after the Israeli military said it had killed two Palestinian gunmen who attacked a reserve battalion near the Israeli settlement of Telem, killing two soldiers.

Israel’s ambulance service reported that at least three Israeli soldiers were injured in addition to the two who died.

All Israeli settlements, including Telem, are illegal under international law.

The attack and clampdown came amid heightened tensions across the Palestinian territory as Israeli settlers and soldiers engage in violent pogroms. Attacks on olive harvesters have been rife as aggression has been on the rise before the coming Israeli elections on Tuesday.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded to the killing of the Israeli soldiers by calling for Israel to take full control of the West Bank, in which the Israeli government is encouraging the construction of numerous settlements.

Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative political party, said incitement from far-right Israeli ministers is making the situation worse.

The closure turns every city and village into “a small prison”, with checkpoints and gates blocking healthcare, the economy and education, he told Al Jazeera. He warned that collective punishment “will lead to explosions”.