Netanyahu Prepares Full West Bank Lockdown After Shooting
The Facts
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Hebron closed Friday and instructed security forces to "prepare for a full lockdown" of the West Bank after a shooting near the city. Witnesses said troops sealed Hebron's entrances with iron gates.
- Israel's military said it killed two gunmen who opened fire near the Yehuda Junction outside Hebron, wounding five Israelis, two of them critically. Emergency responders said gunfire was still underway when they arrived at the scene and lasted about 20 minutes.
- Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said a large quantity of ammunition was found in the gunmen's vehicle and suggested they had planned a larger attack. Israeli media reported that the two men were from Hebron and had intended to target nearby Route 35.
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The Spin
Pro-Israel narrative
Armed cells rolling toward a busy junction with a rifle, a pistol and stockpiles of ammunition show exactly why checkpoints and security closures exist in the first place. Quick, decisive action by soldiers cut the attack short, and sealing off the staging ground to prevent further attacks is simple common sense. Freedom of movement can't outrank the fundamental right of innocent families to drive home alive and unharmed.
Pro-Palestine narrative
Sealing off an entire city over the actions of two men is collective punishment, and iron gates and dirt mounds around villages only breed further resentment and desperation. Raiding homes, a wedding and a university campus has little to do with public safety and is simply a means to demonstrate Israel's domination of Palestinian life. Settler attacks are only getting worse, and even American citizens are dying in the West Bank without a shred of accountability or meaningful consequences.
