Occupation of the West Bank | West Bank: Netanyahu threatens major offensive

Israeli soldiers gathered at the site of a shooting attack by Palestinians at an intersection near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday. Photo: dpa/AP/Mahmoud Illean After the death of two Israeli soldiers in a Palestinian attack in the West Bank, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a large-scale military offensive and the "complete closure" of the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel. "The Defense Minister and I are considering a very far-reaching military operation in Judea and Samaria, the likes of which have not been seen since the Six-Day War," Netanyahu said on Friday during a visit to Hebron. He used the biblical names for the West Bank.

“The army is ready to carry it out and we will decide the time. But it will come,” said Netanyahu. For a first operation, he announced: "We will evacuate the residents, we will go from house to house, we will confiscate the weapons there too, and the entire terrorist infrastructure will be attacked and destroyed."

"The Defense Minister and I are considering a very far-reaching military operation in Judea and Samaria, the likes of which have not been seen since the Six-Day War."

Defense Minister Israel Katz said the approach in Hebron should be modeled on Israeli military operations in refugee camps in the northern West Bank. Netanyahu's announcement came a few days before Israel's parliamentary election on Tuesday.

Two armed Palestinians opened fire on Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near Hebron on Friday morning. Two Israeli soldiers were killed and three others were injured. The attackers were shot. An AFP photographer observed the exchange of fire and then saw the bodies of the two attackers who had been shot.

Netanyahu said Hebron and the neighboring city of Halhul had been completely sealed off. The army said it began raids in the Hebron area.

The Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas welcomed the attack as a "heroic operation" but did not claim responsibility. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for action "just like in the Gaza Strip" and, according to his own statements, ordered the demolition of Palestinian buildings near the crime scene. Security Minister Itamar Ben Gwir called for the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority. There was no evidence of their involvement in the attack.

At the beginning of 2025, Israel began a large-scale military operation in refugee camps in the northern West Bank. According to the UN, more than 33,000 displaced Palestinians were unable to return as of July.

Representatives of the German Greens and the Left Party condemned Netanyahu's announcements on Friday as a "collective punishment" against millions of Palestinians that violates international law. They called on the federal government to take action.

“Any attack on people must be condemned, including today’s attack,” said Green Party co-leader Franziska Brantner to the AFP news agency. "But it is also condemnable that the Israeli government is using this as an opportunity to seal off the entire West Bank," she added. This affects “around three million Palestinians and is therefore a collective punishment. And collective punishment is prohibited under international law.”

This creates no security, says Brantner. “Anyone who seals off entire cities and regions escalates the situation and plays into the hands of extremists on all sides.” People’s safety should “not become an instrument in the election campaign.” The federal government must “speak out clearly against the lockdown and push for de-escalation together with our European partners,” demanded the Green Party co-chair.

The spokeswoman for international relations for the Left parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Lea Reisner, made a similar statement. The federal government must realize “that empty words of ‘concern’ are not enough,” but must act, she explained. “The Israeli attacks against Palestinians, against journalists and even against diplomats have reached a new high,” said the politician, referring to incidents last week. She demanded that the federal government stop arms exports and suspend Israel's association agreement with the EU as well as recognize Palestine as a state. Otherwise, Berlin will continue to be “complicit.” AFP/nd

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