Netanyahu orders full West Bank lockdown after Hebron attack wounds five

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday ordered a complete closure of the occupied West Bank following a shooting earlier in the day that left at least five people wounded.

In a statement from his office, Netanyahu said Israel had prevented a "large-scale attack" in the West Bank, adding that he had also ordered an immediate lockdown of the city of Hebron, near the site of the attack, in addition to the full closure of the West Bank.

Netanyahu also instructed his Likud party to cancel all scheduled campaign activities on Friday morning, according to a party statement, following the attack at the Yehuda junction.

Meanwhile, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Friday called for the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority after the shooting, which is suspected to have been carried out by Palestinians in the West Bank.

"We must not wait for another October 7 in the West Bank. That is where the next war will erupt," Ben-Gvir said in a statement. "We must act before it is too late. The Palestinian Authority should be dismantled and disarmed, and its terrorist infrastructure completely destroyed."

The Israeli army announced in a statement that its forces had surrounded Hebron and launched a large-scale offensive there, saying troops were "now in the homes of the perpetrators of the shooting in Hebron and other suspected individuals."

Earlier on Friday, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians suspected of carrying out an attack near Hebron in the West Bank, during which gunfire wounded at least five people, according to the Israeli military.

Footage released by medics showed the body of a man in civilian clothes lying on the ground near a gas station, as Israeli forces patrolled the area.

The Israeli army said its soldiers had responded to the Yehuda junction area near Hebron, a site of frequent tensions, after a "terrorist shooting attack" early in the morning, reporting that "two assailants were neutralized" as security sweeps and lockdowns continued in several nearby villages.

Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service said "the initial gunfire wounded five people, two of them critically."

The incident comes amid a surge in attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank in recent months, with a new wave of violence reported during the ongoing olive harvest season, just days ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October 27.