Israel is shutting the West Bank for its election. The army announced early Sunday that all land crossings into and out of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley will close throughout Tuesday, October 27 — election day for the Knesset — alongside a ban on the entry and exit of Palestinian workers across the territory, including the industrial zones. The restrictions begin earlier: from Sunday through Monday, most Palestinian workers are already barred from entering Israeli communities in the West Bank for work, with only limited exceptions. The measures were approved by the political leadership on the security establishment's recommendation.
The closure follows Friday's attack near Hebron, where two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded others at a checkpoint before being killed themselves. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a "full lockdown" of the West Bank, visited Hebron on Friday and promised a large-scale operation; over the weekend the army said its forces had operated at hundreds of sites and detained dozens of Palestinians it accused of ties to Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
Hebron, the West Bank's largest city, is where the operation bites hardest. Since Friday, troops have raided and sealed neighbourhoods near the checkpoint at the city's northern entrance — Al-Jaladah, Ein Deir Baha and Farsh al-Hawa among them — announcing evacuation orders over loudspeakers late at night and demolishing homes and shops. Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed that about 2,000 people have been displaced, and set the condition for their return: "They will not be allowed to return to their neighbourhood until we've finished dealing with all the Hamas issues in Hebron." Hebron's mayor, Yousef al-Ja'bari, put the number forced from their homes higher, at about 2,200, and said the city is under complete blockade: "People cannot reach or enter the city, and they cannot leave it."
The Palestinian Authority condemned the demolitions, the forced displacement and the closures as "collective punishment" and called for international pressure to protect Hebron's residents. Hebron activist Issa Amro said residents are "now under siege, with all entrances and exits closed." Israel's stated case is security: the closure comes days after a deadly checkpoint attack, in the final stretch before a national vote, and closures of West Bank crossings on Israeli election days and major holidays have been standard practice in past cycles.
Tuesday's vote decides the 26th Knesset — 120 seats, 61 needed for a majority — in the first full-term election Israel has held in decades. Netanyahu's Likud faces a tight race against opposition figures led by Gadi Eisenkot, with neither bloc clearly able to secure a majority in the final polls. The army says the Hebron operation will last several days. Whether the crossings reopen on schedule after the vote — and when Hebron's displaced families are allowed home — are the questions now hanging over election day.
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