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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a “complete lockdown” across the occupied West Bank after a shooting attack left five Israelis injured. He also ordered the immediate imposition of a full siege on the Palestinian city of Hebron.
Netanyahu announced the measures in a statement on Friday (October 23), following an emergency security assessment with senior military and intelligence officials.
The attack took place at an intersection near the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba, close to Hebron. According to Israel’s emergency medical service, Magen David Adom, and the military, two Palestinians arrived in a vehicle, opened fire and quickly fled the scene.
Five Israelis were injured in the attack, two of them critically.
Shortly after the shooting, Israeli forces launched search operations in the area. The two Palestinian assailants were later killed in an exchange of fire. Operations are continuing to determine whether any other suspects are hiding in the area, which has been cordoned off.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Netanyahu said Israeli forces were conducting extensive arrest operations across the West Bank.
Violence across the West Bank has escalated recently amid Israeli military operations and attacks by Israeli settlers. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the violence has forced many Palestinians to flee their homes, while casualties from repeated attacks have continued to rise. Source: Al Jazeera.
