🚨 IDF Radio:
Details of the initial investigation of the operation at the Yehuda Junction in Hebron:
The two armed men arrived around 7:30 in the morning at the Yehuda junction, where a force from the "Ari" battalion of the Home Front Command carried out a routine checkpoint for vehicles leaving Hebron, in order to monitor the movements of the Palestinians and prevent armed men from leaving the city.
- The forces were on alert at dawn, as part of procedures for checking and monitoring the movements at all Hebron exits during these hours.
The Israeli army estimates that the two gunmen arrived by car at the temporary military checkpoint, and when they realized that they would not be able to cross it and reach Route 35, they decided to target the checkpoint.
The two gunmen got out of the vehicle carrying M4 automatic weapons and a pistol, took up positions on the outskirts of the built-up area and used the checkpoints to shoot at the forces at the checkpoint.
The skirmish lasted more than 20 minutes (!), and was witness to prolonged exchanges of fire during which the troops were injured. - The company commander and the deputy general in the sector arrived at the scene together with an officer from the 101st paratrooper battalion from a neighboring sector. They executed, with the help of their field command centers, a maneuver to bypass the two armed men, and managed to kill them at the end of the skirmish.
- A large amount of ammunition was found in the gunmen's vehicle.
The Israeli army estimates that the two gunmen planned to leave Hebron and reach Route 35, in order to carry out a large-scale operation, but the roadblock the army set up at the exit from Hebron thwarted their plan.
- The IDF says it did not receive a specific notification about the operation, and it had no specific information about the Hebron sector or Route 35.
Despite this, there were security preparations in the area for attacks of this type, in light of a period of extreme sensitivity and tension against the background of the olive harvest season and the elections.
A senior Israeli officer said: "Everyone understands that an attempt to carry out an operation will be carried out before the elections." - The intelligence review conducted by the Shin Bet and the military intelligence division "Amen" focuses on determining whether the two armed men belong to a local unit or a larger organization, and whether a terrorist organization or an outside party sent them.
It is expected that in the coming days many arrests will be made in the Hebron area, in addition to the survey of the fighters' homes and the execution of engineering works in the area.
The IDF imposed a security fence on Hebron, preventing entry and exit from the two cities.