Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has ordered a full lockdown of the occupied West Bank after the Israeli military repelled an attack in the city of Hebron.
The order on yesterday morning was given shortly after the Israeli military said it had killed two Palestinian gunmen who had attacked a reserve battalion near the Israeli settlement of Telem, which, like all settlements, is illegal under international law.
The attack and clampdown came amid heightened tensions across the Palestinian territory as Israeli settlers and soldiers engage in violent pogroms, reports Al Jazeera online.
Attacks on olive harvesters have been rife as aggression has been on the rise before Tuesday’s Israeli elections.
Declaring that the security forces had prevented a “major attack”, Netanyahu announced on social media that he had ordered security forces to immediately close Hebron and “prepare for a full lockdown across all of Judea and Samaria [the Israeli term for the West Bank] starting today”.
Israeli sources said earlier that two Palestinians driving a car with an Israeli license plate began shooting towards soldiers near one of the many military checkpoints surrounding Hebron.
Israel’s ambulance service reported at least five Israeli soldiers were injured and two were in critical condition.
Witnesses in the area said the shooting lasted for 20 minutes, which complicated the process of evacuating the injured.
Images shared by the AFP news agency appeared to show a man holding a handgun during the fight and later lying on the ground surrounded by Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli military was later reported to have arrested two Palestinians and locked down Hebron while Netanyahu cancelled a series of election-related engagements.