70 Palestinians Arrested Ahead of Israeli Elections Amid West Bank Sweep

Israeli forces have begun a large-scale operation in the West Bank, arresting approximately 70 wanted Palestinians over the past week.

The military campaign follows a shooting near Hebron on Friday that left two Israeli soldiers dead and three others lightly wounded. The army identified the victims as Staff Sergeant Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem. Two Palestinian men opened fire at a junction, and military forces killed both gunmen at the scene. Investigators found an M16 rifle, a handgun, and a large quantity of ammunition in the attackers' vehicle, indicating a planned strike on civilians.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a cordon around Hebron, a city with more than 200,000 residents. He instructed troops to evacuate the neighborhood where the gunmen lived before conducting a house-to-house search for weapons. Netanyahu stated that the first step would be to demolish the site and transform it. He described the attackers as Hamas terrorists, though the group did not claim responsibility. Hamas called the attack heroic and urged armed Palestinians in the West Bank to target Israeli soldiers and civilians.

The military has begun offensive counterterrorism operations in the Hebron area. Soldiers are currently operating inside the homes of the attackers and other suspects. Netanyahu said the Israel Defense Forces would enter neighborhoods from which the terrorists emerged, evacuate residents, and dismantle the terror infrastructure. He used the term Judea and Samaria, Israel's name for the West Bank, to describe the scope of the prepared operation.

This escalation occurs days before Israel holds elections on Tuesday. Netanyahu has made national security a central theme of his campaign for another term. He characterized the shooting as an attempt to influence the vote, recalling a warning issued weeks earlier that enemies were preparing attacks to sway the election. His Likud party announced that Netanyahu convened senior security chiefs on Friday and that all campaign events for the rest of the day were canceled.

The recent surge in West Bank violence also coincided with the brief detention of Brad Lander, a New York Democratic candidate for Congress. Lander was detained this week while assisting Palestinian farmers during the annual olive harvest.

Netanyahu said the IDF would continue the house-to-house searches and that the operation would extend to other neighborhoods in the West Bank. The military confirmed that offensive operations are underway in the Hebron area and that arrests are continuing across the territory.