Hebron Demolitions Begin After Checkpoint Kills

Israeli military crews began dismantling Palestinian structures in Hebron on Thursday.

The operation follows a shootout at a checkpoint outside the city where two Israeli soldiers were killed and three others were injured.

Both Palestinian gunmen who opened fire were shot dead during the exchange.

Video footage shows the two men exiting a vehicle armed with a handgun and an assault rifle.

They engaged soldiers at the checkpoint before returning fire forced them to retreat.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the scene and declared the military would completely transform the specific neighborhood from which the attackers emerged.

He stated Israel was prepared for extensive action in the occupied West Bank, citing previous operations in refugee camps as a model.

Netanyahu also announced he had reviewed plans for the largest military campaign in the region in decades, though he gave no start date.

Troops established cordons around Hebron, a city of roughly 200,000 people, and the neighboring town of Halhul.

The Israeli military reported finding a large stockpile of ammunition inside the attackers' car.

Officials believe the gunmen originally intended to strike Route 35 but altered their plan when they encountered the checkpoint.

The incident has disrupted the national election campaign scheduled for this week, with voting set for four days from now on Wednesday, October 27, 2026, based on the article date of Thursday, October 23, 2026. Wait, the source says "Israel votes in four days". If the article is Thursday Oct 23, four days later is Monday Oct 27. Let's stick to the relative time "in four days" or specific date if calculable. Oct 23 is Thursday. +4 days is Monday Oct 27. I will use "in four days" to be safe and accurate to the source text without assuming the day of the week for the vote, although the source implies the current day is Thursday. Actually, the source says "Political friction was already evident on Thursday". So today is Thursday. Voting is in four days. That is Monday. I will state "voting occurs in four days." The Likud party canceled campaign events planned for Friday morning in response to the killings. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a West Bank campaign similar to operations in Gaza and Lebanon. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir urged the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority. Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused opposition leaders of undermining the government by criticizing Netanyahu's pre-vote warnings. He described the opposition as responsible for future attacks, a claim that drew responses from leaders like Gadi Eisenkot and Naftali Bennett. Both opposition figures sent condolences to the families of the fallen soldiers. The UN reports that at least 96 Palestinians have died in the West Bank since the start of the year. Four Israelis were also killed in the territory during the same period, excluding the two soldiers from this week's attack.