Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a tight “security cordon” around the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil and directed the IOF and security services to prepare a full closure of the entire West Bank, starting Friday. The measures follow a shooting operation near al-Khalil that wounded six IOF soldiers, four of them critically.

Netanyahu announced the decision after an urgent security assessment. “I have ordered an immediate cordon on al-Khalil and preparations for a comprehensive closure of the West Bank, effective today,” he said.

IOF troops also closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil to Muslim worshipers on Friday and drove out its employees and custodians, who work under the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, barring them from the site.

The ministry condemned the move in a statement, calling it a “flagrant violation of the sanctity of Islamic holy sites and of the freedom of worship guaranteed under international law.”

Ministry of Endowments: Closure part of Judaization drive

The ministry said the closure is part of a “systematic policy of Judaization and restrictions” aimed at taking full control of the mosque, and stripping it of its legitimate Islamic administration.

It stressed that the Ibrahimi Mosque, including all its halls and courtyards, is a purely Islamic endowment, and that measures targeting the site and its staff will not change its Islamic and historical identity.

The ministry warned of serious consequences if such attacks continue. It urged the international community and human rights and humanitarian organizations, particularly UNESCO, to “shoulder their responsibilities and intervene urgently” to press the occupation authorities to end their interference in Islamic holy sites and halt provocations that offend Muslims.

Resistance factions denounce occupation policies

Palestinian Resistance factions hailed the al-Khalil operation in statements on Friday, with Hamas describing the operation as “the natural and legitimate response” to the occupation’s continuing crimes in the West Bank, al-Quds, and Gaza. It called for “total mobilization” and urged everyone who bears arms to target occupiers and the settlers it accused of committing “the worst atrocities” against Palestinians.

Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, pointed to the occupation’s crimes and the terror of its settlers against the West Bank and its camps, as well as the genocide in Gaza. It also called for escalating the confrontation by every available means.

The Resistance Committees said the occupation’s continued crimes, abuse of prisoners, and attacks on holy sites will not give the entity the security it imagines it can impose by force.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) slammed the occupation’s security measures. It said the checkpoints that choke West Bank cities and villages and turn them into isolated cantons will never become a reality Palestinians accept. The Front described al-Khalil as “a reservoir of the intifada” and a vanguard against plans to Judaize the city and seize its land, and renewed its call for popular protection committees and a unified leadership.

The operation took place around 7:30 am Friday at the entrance to Farsh al-Hawa, northwest of occupied al-Khalil, where two Palestinian resistance fighters opened fire on IOF forces stationed there. The clash lasted more than 20 minutes and left six Israeli soldiers wounded, two of them in life-threatening conditions. The two resistance fighters were martyred in the clash.