Netanyahu Orders West Bank Lockdown After Deadly Hebron Checkpoint Shooting

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an immediate closure of Hebron and told security forces to prepare for a full lockdown of the occupied West Bank after a shooting attack near the city on Friday, October 23, 2026, according to NBC News and the Times of Israel.

What happened near Hebron

NBC News reported that at around 7:15 a.m. local time, gunmen opened fire near Yehuda Junction, close to Hebron, using an M16 rifle and a handgun. Al Jazeera described the attackers as two Palestinian men who exchanged fire with Israeli soldiers for about 20 minutes near the settlement of Telem before troops killed both of them.

Both NBC News and the Times of Israel reported that at least five people were wounded in the attack, two of them critically. The Israeli military said it believed the men had been preparing a larger attack on civilians before they were stopped, according to NBC News.

Netanyahu's response

Netanyahu convened an emergency meeting with security chiefs, including Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Shin Bet head David Zini, National Security Adviser Shmuel Ben Ezra and IDF Central Command head Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, the Times of Israel reported. He ordered an immediate cordon around Hebron and told forces to prepare for a closure of the entire West Bank.

According to NBC News, Netanyahu said soldiers had stopped the attack with courage and determination and blamed Hamas, saying the group had been planning a major attack aimed at killing civilians. He added that troops had found large quantities of weapons and ammunition but gave no further details, NBC News reported.

Political reaction and election backdrop

The shooting occurred days before Israel's general election on October 28, 2026, in which Netanyahu faces opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot in what the Times of Israel described as a dead heat. NBC News said security had become a central campaign issue. The Times of Israel also noted that the West Bank and Gaza were already due for a separate lockdown on October 28–29 to cover the election itself.

Far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich called for dismantling the Palestinian Authority and launching a wider military campaign in the West Bank, according to NBC News and Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera reported that Ben-Gvir, Israel's national security minister, said the Palestinian Authority should be dismantled and demilitarised and that armed groups operating under it should be removed entirely.

Al Jazeera reported that Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the PFLP praised the checkpoint attack as retaliation for Israeli military operations and the war in Gaza, while the Times of Israel reported that Hamas described the operation as heroic but did not claim responsibility for carrying it out.

Rising tension across the West Bank

The shooting came amid a broader rise in violence. Al Jazeera reported that Israeli forces arrested 36 Palestinians in West Bank raids on the Thursday before the attack, with operations spanning the Jenin, Hebron, Nablus and Jerusalem governorates.

Separately, Al Jazeera cited the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission in reporting 17 incidents on the same Thursday targeting Palestinian olive harvesters, including assaults, crop theft, tree burning and gunfire threats. NBC News reported that the United Nations had documented at least 160 settler attacks in early October alone, during the olive harvest season.

As of Friday, Israeli authorities had not specified when a full West Bank closure would take effect or how long it would last. News organizations continued to update their coverage of the situation.