Hebron attack and response
Five Israelis were reported wounded in the October 23 attack at a temporary IDF checkpoint outside Hebron: two in serious or critical condition and three in light-to-moderate condition.
Earlier first-responder reports listed four wounded, two seriously and two lightly, with Magen David Adom reporting one unconscious. The casualty figures and classifications were not explicitly reconciled.
Initial reports placed the shooting at Judea Junction on Route 35; later reporting described the checkpoint and said the attackers could not reach the highway.
According to the IDF’s preliminary investigation, two Palestinian terrorists from Hebron arrived by car around 7:30 a.m. while soldiers from the Home Front Command’s 775th “Ari” Search and Rescue Battalion checked vehicles leaving the city.
Armed with an M16 rifle and a pistol, they exited on a side street, used buildings as cover and opened fire.
The battalion’s deputy commander, a company commander and an officer from the Paratroopers Brigade’s 101st Battalion flanked and eliminated them after an exchange lasting more than 20 minutes. The initial military account said they were eliminated while attempting to flee.
The IDF assessed that the attackers initially intended to target Israeli civilians on Route 35 but changed plans when unable to reach it. Senior Israeli officers quoted separately by Channel 13 and Maariv said they planned to storm a settlement. The accounts were not explicitly reconciled.
The IDF said ammunition found in their vehicle supported its assessment that a larger, potentially mass-casualty attack was intended. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir credited troops with preventing further harm and ordered preparations to reinforce Central Command if required.
The preliminary probe found no specific advance warning. The IDF was already on heightened alert ahead of the election and amid the olive harvest.
The IDF and Shin Bet are investigating whether the attackers acted alone or received funding and direction from a wider terrorist network.
Following the attack, troops established roadblocks, conducted searches and launched counterterrorism raids in Hebron and additional areas, entering the attackers’ homes and other suspects’ residences.
Hebron and surrounding Palestinian villages were placed under full closure. The military said preparations were underway to demolish the attackers’ homes.
Speaking in Hebron, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the IDF would apply the offensive model used in refugee camps within cities, entering neighborhoods from which terrorists originated, evacuating residents, going house to house and destroying terrorist infrastructure.
He said Israel was prepared for a large-scale operation in Judea and Samaria.
Finance Minister and Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich ordered the immediate demolition of numerous illegally constructed Arab buildings adjacent to the attack site, according to his aides.
They said work would begin within an hour of their statement and continue until shortly before Shabbat.
Homesh gunfire inquiry
After reported shooting near Homesh on the evening before the October 23 morning update, the IDF said an initial inquiry indicated that an Israeli civilian had identified a suspected armed individual and heard gunfire unrelated to a terror attack.
The civilian fired toward its source. Soldiers were dispatched and were searching for armed individuals.
