Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Friday afternoon, during a visit to the scene of the terrorist attack near Hebron, that the IDF will adopt a new operational strategy in the neighborhood from which the terrorists emerged. The plan includes evacuating residents, conducting house-to-house searches, locating weapons and demolishing terrorist infrastructure.
Netanyahu said the strategy would apply the military model used in refugee camps in Judea and Samaria and could later be expanded to additional cities.
“We are going to implement the successful and aggressive model we used in the refugee camps, which are essentially terrorist strongholds," Netanyahu said. “That is exactly what we will do here, in a neighborhood in Hebron from which the terrorists emerged. We will evacuate the residents, go from house to house, remove the weapons there, and address and demolish all terrorist infrastructure."
The Prime Minister also announced additional measures in the Hebron area.
“At the same time, we are imposing a siege on the cities of Hebron and Halhul. We will consider expanding this model to other cities as well," he said.
Netanyahu said Israel would also accelerate the removal of illegal structures along roads, which he claimed pose a threat to security forces.
“We will clear out the illegal structures along the roads at an accelerated pace. They pose a threat to our forces," he said.
Netanyahu addressed the incident in which IDF soldiers were wounded while stopping the terrorists, linking it to warnings issued in recent weeks about attempts to attack Israel ahead of the upcoming elections.
“We warned several weeks ago about attempts by our enemies to harm us, our civilians and our soldiers ahead of the elections. That is what they tried to do here," he said. “IDF soldiers stopped them with their own bodies and were also wounded. The soldiers not only stopped the terrorists, but also charged forward courageously and eliminated them."
Netanyahu subsequently revealed that the IDF was preparing for the possibility of an especially large-scale military operation in Judea and Samaria, although no date had yet been set.
“The Defense Minister and I have seen an IDF operation in Judea and Samaria on a very broad scale, unlike anything carried out since the Six-Day War," he said. “The IDF is ready to carry it out, and we will determine the timing, but it is coming."
Netanyahu did not detail the number of forces expected to participate, the areas in which the operation might take place or its possible timetable. He stressed that a decision on when to launch it would be made at a later stage.
Alongside his announcements on security measures, the Prime Minister also addressed continued construction and development in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
“We are going to destroy terrorist infrastructure and build the infrastructure for Jewish communities," he said.
According to Netanyahu, the government is advancing plans for the construction and legalization of more than 100 new communities and more than 100 farms.
Addressing residents of the region, Netanyahu said: “You are standing firm on the front lines. You are an example to the people of Israel and to the State of Israel."
He concluded by pledging to continue both efforts simultaneously: “We will destroy terrorist infrastructure and establish more and more communities."
Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a separate statement confirming that the neighborhood in Hebron from which the terrorists emerged would be evacuated and all terrorist infrastructure there destroyed, following the operational model used in the Jenin refugee camp.
Katz warned that “the terrorists, their handlers, and those who provide them with protection and assistance will pay a very heavy price."
He also claimed that Iran and its proxies, together with the Muslim Brotherhood axis, were planning terrorist attacks aimed at influencing Israel's upcoming elections.