Netanyahu threatens Palestinian Authority, West Bank sealed
Israel's army is sealing the entire West Bank on Tuesday after a Hebron operation displaced about 2,000 people, as Netanyahu threatens the Palestinian Authority ahead of the election.
The Israeli military announced the closure of all land crossings in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, coinciding with Israel's parliamentary elections set for October 27, and barred Palestinian workers from entering settlements, with limited exceptions. The move comes amid a wide-ranging military and security campaign in the West Bank, after two Israeli soldiers were killed Friday in an attack by two Palestinian gunmen at a military checkpoint.
About 2,000 people displaced in Hebron
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Friday the launch of a large-scale military operation in response to the attack, which also wounded three other soldiers and in which both gunmen were killed. Israeli forces demolished homes and commercial buildings in Hebron; Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said about 2,000 people had been displaced by the operation. Videos circulating online showed what appeared to be an entire street leveled. The Israeli army had already placed Hebron, home to about 200,000 residents, under siege even before Sunday's announcement of new restrictions on Palestinian workers.
Demolishing the homes of Palestinians suspected of carrying out attacks is a practice used by Israeli forces in the West Bank, criticized by Israeli human rights organizations as a form of collective punishment.
Netanyahu threatens the Palestinian Authority
In an interview with Israel's i24 channel published Saturday, Netanyahu warned the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, of a "very big surprise," without elaborating. Hebron Mayor Yousef al-Jaabari said the military operation was "election-driven," accusing Netanyahu and his ministers of seeking to court far-right and settler votes, as the vote appears close against his main rival, former military chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot.
Tel Aviv protests and Gaza strikes despite the truce
In Tel Aviv, thousands of Israelis protested Saturday against the government, at a rally organized by the "October Council," a group of families of victims and hostages from the October 7, 2023 attack, demanding an official inquiry commission. Leaders of the four main opposition parties took part in the protest.
In the Gaza Strip, seven Palestinians were killed Sunday in Israeli strikes and gunfire, including three staff members of the Islamic University of Gaza, according to civil defence and Palestinian medical sources, despite the ceasefire in effect since October 10, 2025 under US, Egyptian and Qatari mediation. The Israeli military told the Times of Israel it had targeted "terrorist elements" at the university, while Hamas called the strike a "war crime."
Why it matters
These developments come at a sensitive moment, days before a tightly contested Israeli election, as tensions flare again in the West Bank and the Gaza ceasefire continues to be tested a year after it was signed.