Two Palestinian youths were killed on Friday morning, October 23, after carrying out a shooting attack targeting the Israeli occupation army’s Farsh al-Hawa military checkpoint, also known as Yehuda Junction, near the city of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank.
Israel’s emergency medical service, Magen David Adom, said five Israelis were injured in the attack, two of them critically, and were taken to hospitals in Jerusalem. The injured included members of an army reserve battalion, while the Israeli military said it had killed the two attackers after a brief pursuit. The army said they were armed with an M16 rifle and a pistol.

Netanyahu places Hebron under cordon and cancels election events
Following the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an immediate cordon around the city of Hebron and preparations for a complete closure of the West Bank. He also canceled all political events scheduled for Friday, days before the Israeli elections set for Tuesday. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority, despite the absence of any evidence linking it to the attack.

Escalation continues in the West Bank
The attack comes amid escalating settler attacks on Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest season, as well as repeated Israeli occupation army raids on cities and villages across the West Bank. According to Palestinian Health Ministry data, 1,113 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by occupation forces or settlers since October 2023.