Netanyahu Pledges Hebron Crackdown, Settlement Expansion After West Bank Attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a sweeping security crackdown in Hebron and pledged further settlement expansion after an attack in the occupied West Bank left five people wounded.

Visiting Hebron five days before Israel’s elections, Netanyahu said Israeli soldiers had stopped the attackers, whom the report described as alleged Hamas militants. The Israeli military said two attackers had been killed and a search for possible additional assailants was continuing.

Netanyahu linked the assault to attempts to disrupt the period before the vote.

“We spoke a few weeks ago about our enemies’ attempts to harm us, our citizens and our soldiers ahead of the elections. That is what they tried to do here,” he said.

HOUSE-TO-HOUSE OPERATIONS PLANNED

Netanyahu said Israeli forces would carry out operations in the Hebron neighbourhood from which he said the attackers had emerged, applying tactics previously used in refugee camps.

“We will clear out the residents, go house to house, take out the weapons and all the infrastructure of terror,” he said.

He also announced restrictions on Hebron and nearby Halhul, describing the measures as a “siege”, and said similar operations could be extended to other cities. Buildings along transport routes that Israel considers illegal and threatening to its forces would also be cleared, he added.

Netanyahu said the military had prepared a broader West Bank operation, which he described as unprecedented since the 1967 Six-Day War. He did not announce when it would begin.

“The IDF is prepared to carry it out; we will choose the timing, but it is on the way,” he said.

PLEDGE TO EXPAND SETTLEMENTS

Alongside the security measures, Netanyahu promised further settlement construction and praised Israeli settlers.

“We are going to destroy the infrastructure of terror and build the infrastructure of settlement,” he said.

Netanyahu said Israel was building and arranging more than 100 settlements “right here and elsewhere”, alongside more than 100 outposts. His remarks did not specify their locations or a construction timetable.

With inputs from ANI