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Two Israeli soldiers were killed and at least five people were injured when gunmen opened fire near a military checkpoint outside the city, according to news reports. Two Palestinian attackers were also killed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the closure of Hebron, promised house-to-house raids and home demolitions, and reportedly threatened a wider offensive on a scale not seen since the Six Day War. This is the fourth time in a month that Israel has imposed restrictions across its territory.
Speaking at a midday briefing in New York, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Secretary General Antonio Guterres deeply concerned by closures and reports of house demolitions and possible displacement in Hebron.
“The closure severely limits Palestinians’ freedom of movement, access to basic services and livelihoodshe said.
Record settler violence
Guterres condemned “the violence caused by the large number of attacks carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in 2026”, and recalled Israel’s obligation as an occupying power “to protect the Palestinian population from such attacks and hold perpetrators accountable”.
Mayy El Sheikh, spokesperson for the UN human rights office (OHCHR) in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said that the lockdown was “yet another episode in a never-ending series of suffocating acts, making life for Palestinians increasingly unbearable.”
‘Pattern of collective punishment’
“This follows a pattern of collective punishment whenever Palestinians commit acts of violence against Israeli settlers or soldiers,” he said, noting that similar incidents have previously resulted in lockdowns, increased raids and arbitrary detentions.
Hebron’s entrances and exits were closed after Friday’s attack, he said, and the Ibrahimi Mosque was closed, so worshipers could not perform Friday prayers.
This closure occurs at the peak of the olive harvest.
“Israeli movement restrictions have prevented thousands of Palestinian farmers from harvesting their olives,” El Sheikh said. “This will certainly have a bad impact on this season.”
OHCHR has documented more than 160 settler attacks in the first two weeks of October alone, involving live bullets, arson, crop theft and damage to olive groves.
Settlers have also targeted European Union diplomats, and a Washington Post photojournalist was violently attacked a week ago by masked settlers while covering the harvest near Ramallah.
death in Gaza
Guterres also remains deeply concerned about the deaths of civilians in Gaza, including children, and tight aid restrictions ahead of winter.
He called on all parties “to immediately cease all acts of violence, exercise restraint and refrain from actions that could further inflame tensions.”
