Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the closure of the city of Hebron and the blocking of entry and exit to the entire West Bank starting Friday morning, after five people were injured in a terrorist attack in the area.
“I have asked the IDF and security forces to immediately impose a closure on the city of Hebron and prepare for a complete lockdown of all of Judea and Samaria, starting today,” he said, adding that the IDF would carry out numerous waves of arrests.
“We will pursue Hamas terrorists and those who send them, wherever they are and at any time,” Netanyahu said. “You have nowhere to hide.”
The army announced earlier in the morning that two terrorists involved in the attack had been killed. The manhunt for additional possible terrorists continues.
Magen David Adom said five people were injured in the attack, including two in critical condition, one moderate and two minor. The lightly and moderately injured were evacuated to hospital.
“This is a serious attack. The soldiers’ quick actions prevented an even more serious attack and further damage to civilians and security forces. A large amount of ammunition was found in the vehicle used by the terrorists to reach the scene of the attack, which was intended to be used to carry out a larger-scale attack,” said IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said in a statement.
After the attack, the city of Hebron was placed under control and several surrounding villages were closed, the Israeli army said. The army also subsequently blocked Highway 35 in both directions.
According to military radio, the two terrorists, Hamouda and Firas Jua’ba, came from the same family in Hebron, both aged 27, married and fathers of two children each.
In a video recorded at the scene, a soldier can be heard saying that the terrorists had been actively shooting for more than 20 minutes.
“The terrorist continues to shoot. There are still exchanges of fire with this son of an ab***h terrorist. Our forces still haven’t managed to bring out the wounded,” the person in the video said. “The terrorist has been shooting for over 20 minutes now.”
During the attack, several people used an armored ambulance that was nearby to protect themselves from the fire.
“Open the door, quickly!” » shouted a person present on the scene while the injured were being evacuated.
“It’s open,” the paramedic replied.
“Make them (the injured) quickly; we’re getting out of here, come on! 442, get an ambulance here now! Do it quickly, do it quickly!”
At least five injured in terrorist attack near Hebron
The two seriously injured people are receiving medical treatment, MDA said in a statement.
We brought a man in his twenties into the ambulance. He was unconscious, shot and in extremely serious condition. We provided him with medical care,” said MDA Emergency Medical Technician Zuriel Edri.
“We evacuated other injured people to the MDA ambulances that arrived at the scene and immediately started transporting them to hospitals. Another person in extremely serious condition was treated by IDF medical personnel in a mobile intensive care unit.
walla reported that the attack apparently targeted a battalion of reservists and likely took advantage of the weather conditions to approach the checkpoint unnoticed.
One possibility that would be investigated is that the terrorists ambushed the soldiers, shot them, then tried to flee.
Netanyahu cancels Likud events following terror attack
After the attack, Netanyahu announced that Likud events scheduled for Friday morning would be canceled.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority following the terrorist attack.
“The serious attack that has just occurred is a bloody, harsh and painful reminder of the price one must pay for conception,” he wrote. “We must not wait until October 7 in Judea and Samaria. The next conflict will break out there; we must act before it is too late. The Palestinian Authority must be dismantled, disarmed and its terrorist infrastructure completely eradicated. The blood of our soldiers is not up for grabs.”
Ben-Gvir also arrived at the scene, where he said he did not want the road barriers and cordons to be removed so that residents could return to their normal lives.
“As long as there is terror, they should not be able to live normally,” he insisted.
“When I said two or three years ago that the freedom of movement of people in the region was less important than the right of Jews to live, many people rose up against me,” he added.
Gadi Eisenkot, head of the Yashar party, also reacted to the terrorist attack on X/Twitter, praying for the victims’ recovery and praising IDF soldiers for their heroism and courage.
Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman said it was a difficult morning for Israel.
“How many more attacks do we have to absorb to understand that we cannot continue the containment policy?” » he said.
“Terror is eliminated, it is not controlled!”
Gn world
