AL-KHALIL, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Six Israeli soldiers were wounded, two of them critically, in a shooting attack near the city of al-Khalil in the southern occupied West Bank on Friday, while the Israeli military announced that it had killed two Palestinians it claimed were involved in carrying out the attack.
Israeli media reported that the wounded soldiers were serving in a reserve battalion affiliated with Israel’s Home Front Command.
In a series of statements, the Israeli military said it had received an initial report of casualties following a shooting near al-Khalil. It subsequently deployed military reinforcements to the area and launched road closures and search operations before imposing a security cordon around several nearby villages.
Israel’s Channel 14 reported that the attack targeted a military watchtower near the Telem settlement, resulting in casualties among Israeli forces.
Meanwhile, the Hebrew-language Walla news website reported that the shooting targeted a reserve battalion belonging to Israel’s Home Front Command.
The Israeli military later announced that it had killed two people it said were involved in the attack, while military operations and searches continued throughout the area.
Israeli occupation forces also imposed a security cordon around several villages near al-Khalil, closing roads and entrances as part of efforts to search for and determine whether other individuals were connected to the attack.
Further details surrounding the circumstances of the shooting and the identities of the two people reportedly killed by Israeli forces have not been independently verified.
Hamas: Resistance will continue till the end of the occupation
The Hamas Movement said that the armed operation carried out at the northern entrance to al-Khalil, in the southern occupied West Bank, reflected the determination of the steadfast Palestinian people and sent a clear message to the Israeli occupation that resistance would continue and grow stronger until occupation was driven from Palestinian land and holy sites.
In a statement, Hamas mourned the two Palestinians who were killed during an armed confrontation with Israeli soldiers, asserting that the operation came as a natural and legitimate response to ongoing Israeli crimes and attacks in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as the continuing military offensive against the Gaza Strip.
Hamas stressed that the Palestinian people “will not surrender or lay down their arms until the aggression ends and the occupation of their land and Aqsa Mosque is brought to an end.”
The Movement called on Palestinians across the cities, towns, villages, and refugee camps of the West Bank to mobilize on a broad scale and confront Israeli settlers and forces.
Hamas also urged armed Palestinians and young protesters to direct gunfire at Israeli forces and settlers in retaliation for Israeli escalating crimes against the Palestinian people.
Al-Quds Brigades call for escalation of confrontations
The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, welcomed the resistance operation and praised the two martyrs, saying they had engaged Israeli forces in an armed confrontation and dealt a blow to Israeli soldiers on the ground.
In a statement, the group said the shooting operation came in response to Israeli military actions and settler terrorism against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and its refugee camps, as well as the ongoing war of genocide and starvation in the Gaza Strip.
The Al-Quds Brigades called for an escalation of confrontations with Israeli forces and settlers across West Bank cities and refugee camps, stressing the need to continue resisting Israeli attacks.
PFLP: Israeli checkpoints will never become an accepted reality
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) also praised the operation, describing it as a response to Israeli actions against the Palestinian people.
The PFLP stressed that Israeli military checkpoints, which restrict movement between West Bank cities and villages, fragment Palestinian communities, and turn them into isolated enclaves, would never become a normal or accepted reality for Palestinians, regardless of escalating policies of repression and restrictions.
The group said al-Khalil, historically a stronghold of Palestinian uprisings, has remained at the forefront of confronting Israeli plans aimed at Judaizing the city, seizing its land, and erasing its Palestinian national identity.
The PFLP renewed its call for the establishment of popular protection committees across the West Bank to confront settler attacks, accusing the Israeli government of giving settlers free rein to impose new realities on the ground and forcibly displace Palestinians.
It also emphasized the need for Palestinian national factions to fulfill their responsibilities toward the Palestinian people and establish a unified leadership to coordinate resistance and steadfastness.
Resistance Committees call for Palestinian unity and escalation of resistance
The Popular Resistance Committees in Palestine also welcomed the armed confrontation, asserting that Israel’s continued military actions, assaults on religious sites, and mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners would neither bring it the security it seeks to impose by force nor succeed in breaking the Palestinian people’s determination or forcing them to submit to its plans.
In a press statement, the committees said the attack came in response to Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, ongoing assaults on religious sites, and the mistreatment of Palestinian male and female prisoners in Israeli detention facilities.
The group described the operation as another blow to Israel’s security, military, and intelligence apparatus, saying that it demonstrated Israel’s inability to break Palestinian resolve despite continued repression, blockade, and military aggression.
The Popular Resistance Committees reaffirmed the Palestinian people’s right to defend their land, holy sites, and prisoners, calling for greater Palestinian unity and an escalation of confrontations to bring an end to ongoing Israeli military operations.
