Netanyahu orders major West Bank operation after two soldiers killed near Hebron

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a "very extensive" military operation in the West Bank after two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian gunmen were killed in a gunfight at a checkpoint outside Hebron. He said troops would evacuate residents, demolish homes and enter the attackers' neighbourhood, while the territory was placed under full closure days before Israel's election. The escalation deepens the contest over land and security in the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria, and rights groups warn it risks wider displacement and further violence.