Authored by Joe Lauria via Consortium News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened a major military offensive against the West Bank four days before he stands for re-election after two Israeli soldiers were killed on Friday in Hebron.
Consortium News on Thursday predicted that Palestinians killing an Israeli on the West Bank could trigger an all-out war against the Palestinian Authority.
Netanyahu announcement outside Hebron, screengrab via Israeli mediaIt is still unclear what led to the Israeli soldiers being killed after a clash with what early reports call Palestinian "gunmen." The men, identified by the Israelis as Firas and Hamouda al-Jaaba, did not appear to be members of the PA security forces.
Netanyahu rushed to Hebron, where in military gear, he announced that the entire city would be shut down as the IDF carried out house-to-house operations. He vowed a major military operation in the West Bank, “of a scale not seen since the Six-Day War,” when Israel began its occupation of the territory in 1967.
“The IDF is ready to carry it out. We will determine the timing, but it is coming,” he said.
Before it was known t
