HEBRON, Palestinian Territories: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday warned of an imminent large-scale military operation in the West Bank and vowed to displace some residents of Hebron after Palestinian gunmen killed two soldiers in an attack.

The attack, which happened at a checkpoint near the Palestinian city in the southern occupied West Bank, also left three soldiers wounded. It came days before Israeli elections in which Netanyahu is facing a tight race.

The two gunmen who carried out the attack were killed in a shootout with soldiers.

The military said Staff Sergeant Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, and Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, both “fell in combat in the Judea Junction,” a checkpoint near the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank.

In a visit to Hebron after the attack, Netanyahu said Israeli forces would enter the neighborhood of the attackers and displace its residents.

“We will evacuate the residents, we will go from house to house, we will also seize the weapons there, and all the terrorist infrastructure will be dealt with and destroyed,” Netanyahu said, according to his office.

“The defense minister and I are considering a very extensive IDF (army) operation in Judea and Samaria, such as has not been carried out since the Six Day War,” he added, referring to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. “The IDF is ready to execute it and we will set the timing, but it is on the way.”

Palestinian militants wounded five Israelis in an attack on Friday before being killed in a shootout with soldiers, leading Netanyahu to order a lockdown in the occupied West Bank days before Israeli elections.

Netanyahu, facing a tight race for a new term in Tuesday’s vote, said that Israeli troops prevented what could have been a major attack, with the two assailants allegedly carrying a large quantity of ammunition in their vehicle.

Militant group Hamas, without claiming responsibility, praised the attack as a “heroic operation” and called for more.

A Hebron-based AFP photographer who was en route to another assignment witnessed the gunbattle break out at the Farsh Al-Hawa checkpoint near the Palestinian city, and saw two Palestinian men armed with a handgun and an automatic rifle exchanging fire with Israeli forces.

Israeli forces eventually shot and killed the attackers, with the AFP journalist seeing their lifeless bodies on the ground next to a petrol station as troops patrolled all around.

The Israeli military said soldiers had rushed to the Judea Junction area after the early-morning shooting and “eliminated two terrorists.”

The attack wounded five people, two of whom were in critical condition, said Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency medical rescue service.

The service said all five were Israelis in their 20s, including one man in “very serious condition” with gunshot wounds.

With the clock counting down to election day, Netanyahu called for all Likud party political meetings to be canceled Friday due to the attack.

‘Full lockdown’

Netanyahu said in a statement he instructed IDF and security forces to immediately cordon off the city of Hebron and take additional security measures to prevent terrorist attacks originating from Judea and Samaria.

“I have just concluded a security assessment with the Minister of Defense, the IDF Chief of Staff, the Director of the Shin Bet, the National Security Advisor, and the Commander of the IDF Central Command. It appears that Hamas terrorists were planning a major attack aimed at murdering innocent civilians, as evidenced by the large quantities of weapons and ammunition discovered,” he said.

“I have instructed the IDF (army) and security forces to impose an immediate cordon on the city of Hebron and to prepare for a full lockdown of all of Judea and Samaria starting today,” Netanyahu said, using the biblical name for the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

He added that troops were “carrying out stepped-up operations to thwart terrorist activities and are conducting large-scale waves of arrests.”

The military said it had “launched offensive counter-terrorism operations in the Hebron area,” adding that troops were raiding homes of the suspects and others.

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a fresh military offensive “exactly like in Gaza” in the West Bank.

“There is no other option but a comprehensive military campaign in Judea and Samaria to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, collect weapons and eliminate terrorists. Exactly like in Gaza and Lebanon,” said Smotrich, who also holds a position within the defense ministry.

“In the next government this will be one of the first measures that we must demand and apply.”

He later said he had “ordered the immediate demolition of a wide row of illegal Arab structures adjacent to the attack site.”

Israeli National Security Minister and far-right firebrand Itamar Ben Gvir, who has been rising in the polls, also called for the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority to be “dismantled and demilitarized, and its terror infrastructure wiped out completely.”

No evidence suggests that the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian government in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was connected to Friday’s attack.

Hamas praises attack

Hamas, which is based in Gaza and carried out the October 7, 2023 attack, the deadliest in Israel’s history, hailed the attack and mourned the two dead assailants.

The attack was a “natural and legitimate response to the ongoing crimes and brutal attacks against our people,” Hamas, the rival of the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah faction, said in a statement.

It called on supporters to “mobilize fully and turn the land into a fire beneath the feet of the invaders,” urging anyone with weapons to carry out more attacks.

Netanyahu in his statement vowed to “pursue Hamas terrorists” everywhere, adding: “You have no place to hide.”

Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief who is Netanyahu’s top rival in the election, praised the response by troops.

“Like all Israelis, I pray for the complete and quick recovery of the injured,” he said.

The incident comes as tensions soar in the West Bank, including over attacks by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinian olive harvesters, and days ahead of Israeli elections.

According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces or settlers have killed 1,113 Palestinians in the territory since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

Israeli figures show at least 49 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations during the same period.