Israel presses ahead with West Bank operation as election approaches

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Israeli military pressed ahead Sunday with a massive military operation in the occupied West Bank that has displaced hundreds of Palestinians and placed major restrictions on movement in response to a gun attack last week that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others.

The operation, focused on the city of Hebron, the site of Friday’s attack, came as Israel enters the final days before a tense election, which is largely seen as a referendum on current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership and security policies during the past three years of war.

In new measures, the army said that most Palestinian workers with permits will not be allowed to enter Israeli West Bank settlements on Sunday and Monday, and crossings into Israel will remain closed until after Israel’s elections on Tuesday.

The military said it operated in more than 400 different locations over the weekend and arrested 40 Palestinians it claimed were affiliated with the Hamas or Islamic Jihad militant groups. No militant group has taken responsibility for the attack.

Thousands of Palestinians displaced from Hebron

The Hebron municipality said the operation displaced more than 2,600 people.

The military said that troops were conducting searches in the area where the gunmen operated, and warned residents to evacuate Deir Bahha, the suspected gunmen’s neighborhood. After Friday’s attack, Israel’s military said it found weapons in the gunmen’s car and that they were likely planning to attack Israeli civilians before being stopped at the checkpoint where the shootout erupted.

All entrances and exits to the city remained sealed, with the operation focused in Deir Bahha and another part of the city called Al-Jalda, according to Hebron Mayor Yousef Zuhair Al-Jabari.

“People cannot reach or enter the city, and they cannot leave it. The blockade has affected every aspect of life,” Al-Jabari said. He added that the blockade is forcing businesses to close and has also shuttered a mosque.

“The army told us that this area would be closed for 12 days. Now they’re saying 12 days, but maybe they’ll leave the area after two or three days,” said Shadi al-Qawasmi, a Hebron resident who was displaced with his family. “This may be because of the elections or some political matter. No one knows except God Almighty.”

The army declined to say how long the operation might last.

The operation forced some families to leave the city on foot. At some military gates, people passed sacks of flour and gas canisters through the gates, while an elderly man pushed his wife in a wheelchair through an opening beside one of them. Another family attempted to navigate the gate to access medical appointments.

Netanyahu vows a strong response as elections loom

Hebron municipal officials said families had been displaced from nearly 500 apartments in Deir Bahha and surrounding neighborhoods.

Six Israelis have been killed this year in attacks in the West Bank, which is experiencing a surge of violence. During the same period, 112 Palestinians have been killed, including the suspected gunmen, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The attack sparked outrage in Israel, with Netanyahu traveling to the attack site and vowing to respond forcefully. On Sunday, hundreds of mourners attended the funeral in Hod Hasharon of Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, one of the Israeli soldiers killed.

With the election approaching, Netanyahu is under pressure to demonstrate a strong show of force against Palestinian attackers to bolster his image for Israelis concerned with security.

Roughly 3 million Palestinians and 540,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war. Hebron is one of its most tense cities and the only place where Jewish settlers live in the heart of a densely populated Palestinian area under Israeli military protection. The international community overwhelmingly considers all Israeli settlements illegal.

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Associated Press writer Sam Metz in Hebron, West Bank, contributed to this report.