Israel to close West Bank crossings before elections amid military operation

The Israeli military continued a massive operation in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, placing major restrictions on movement ahead of Israel’s upcoming elections.

The operation, which comes in response to a gun attack that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others in Hebron on Friday, has displaced hundreds of Palestinians over the last two days.

In Hebron, more than 2,200 people, including nearly 200 children under the age of 18, have been displaced, the municipality said. Since Friday’s attack, all entrances and exits to the city have remained sealed, with the epicenter of the operation 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.

The Israeli military said it operated in more than 400 different locations over the weekend and arrested 40 Palestinians it claimed were affiliated with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Additionally, the Israeli military said most Palestinian workers with permits will not be allowed to enter Israeli settlements for work on Sunday and Monday, and crossings into Israel will remain closed until after Tuesday’s Israeli elections.

The election is largely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s leadership and security policies during the past three years of war.

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, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry.

Friday’s attack sparked outrage in Israel, with Netanyahu and three members of his right-wing government giving statements from the site of the attack on Friday afternoon, vowing to respond forcefully.

“We warned a few weeks ago about attempts by our enemies to harm us, our citizens and our soldiers ahead of the election,” Netanyahu said. “We will act to destroy this place.”

Netanyahu, who is running for reelection in next week’s elections and has received President Trump’s endorsement, 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.