Two Israeli soldiers killed in shooting attack near Hebron, Israeli military says

As of 11:24 a.m. ET, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026

Two Israeli soldiers were killed and three more were lightly wounded in a shooting attack at a junction near Hebron in the West Bank on Friday morning, the Israeli military's spokesperson said. The military said its troops killed two people it described as terrorists.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said afterward that he had directed the military and security forces to impose an immediate encirclement of Hebron and to prepare a full closure of the West Bank starting Friday.

Soldiers named

In a Hebrew-language post at 8:16 a.m. ET, the IDF Spokesperson named the two soldiers as Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem and said their families had been notified. "In the incident in which Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman, of blessed memory, and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, of blessed memory, fell, three more soldiers from the battalion were lightly wounded," the post said (translated from the Hebrew by GROKsiNEWS.com). The wounded soldiers were taken to a hospital for treatment and their families were informed, the post said.

A separate IDF Spokesperson announcement releasing the soldiers' names, which was linked in the post, said both soldiers fell in battle at Judea Junction (translated from the Hebrew by GROKsiNEWS.com).

What the military said

The Israel Defense Forces said in a post at 12:39 a.m. ET (7:39 a.m. local time) that soldiers had been sent to the area after a report of a shooting attack and had launched a pursuit and set up roadblocks. At 12:56 a.m. ET, it said troops "eliminated two terrorists" and were continuing searches, and that a cordon had been imposed.

The two gunmen who carried out the attack were killed in a shootout with soldiers, AFP reported.

Military chief: ammunition found

Israeli military chief of staff Eyal Zamir said a large quantity of ammunition was found in the vehicle the attackers arrived in, which he said was intended for a larger-scale attack, The Times of Israel reported. "This was a serious attack. The troops' swift action prevented an even more serious attack and further harm to civilians and security forces," Zamir said, according to the paper.

Netanyahu's statements

In a Hebrew-language post at 3:36 a.m. ET, Netanyahu said he had just finished a security assessment with the defense minister, the military chief of staff, the head of the Shin Bet security service, the head of the National Security Council and the head of the military's Central Command. He praised the troops, saying they prevented a large attack, and wished the wounded a speedy recovery, according to a GROKsiNEWS.com translation from the Hebrew.

He said he directed the military to impose an immediate encirclement of the city of Hebron and to prepare a full closure of the entire West Bank starting Friday. He wrote that Israel would pursue "the Hamas terrorists and their senders" everywhere and at any time (translated from the Hebrew by GROKsiNEWS.com).

During a visit to Hebron after the attack, Netanyahu said Israeli forces would enter the attackers' neighborhood and displace its residents, AFP reported. "We will evacuate the residents, we will go from house to house, we will also seize the weapons there, and all the terrorist infrastructure will be dealt with and destroyed," Netanyahu said, according to his office, AFP reported.

"The defense minister and I are considering a very extensive IDF (army) operation in Judea and Samaria, such as has not been carried out since the Six Day War," Netanyahu added, according to AFP. Judea and Samaria is the name Israel uses for the West Bank.

What is not known

The IDF Spokesperson's post and the military's earlier posts do not identify the two gunmen. The post describes the three wounded soldiers' injuries only as light and does not give further detail on their condition.