Tensions in the West Bank Escalate as Israeli Elections Approach. Two IDF Soldiers Killed in Attack.

Two Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack in the West Bank on Friday as tensions escalate ahead of the Israeli elections next week.

Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) set up roadblocks and closures in Palestinian towns in the area near Hebron after the incident, in which the two gunmen were killed.

The army said it managed to prevent a "terror attack against Israeli civilians" by engaging with the gunmen, but Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem were killed. Three other soldiers were lightly wounded.

The men in question arrived at an Israeli military position armed with a handgun and an M16 rifle, leading to an exchange that lasted about 20 minutes. Forces claimed that the men's goal was to attack civilians. IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said large amounts of ammunition were found in a vehicle used by the gunmen, and that it was "intended to be used in a larger-scale attack."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he instructed security forces to fully close the West Bank. He blamed Hamas for the attack, with forces arresting dozens of people across the West Bank in different operations.

Israelis will head to the polls next Tuesday in a consequential election that could see Netanyahu out of power for the first time since the October 7 attacks by Hamas in 2023 and the wars that ensued.

President Donald Trump endorsed Netanyahu last weekend, calling him a "Great Warrior Prime Minister, and an even greater Partner for Peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Netanyahu released a video responding to the endorsement, thanking Trump for the support and echoing his message about the strength of their partnership against Iran.

The Israeli prime minister told the president that "there has never been a greater friend of Israel's in the White House" and claimed that "America has been fortunate to have a leader of conviction, of clarity, of courage who faces down this [Iranian] threat to America and to Israel."

Netanyahu's main electoral rival, the Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot, criticized the move by the president, telling students during an event at Tel Aviv University that, while he has great "appreciation" for Trump, "Israel's citizens are the only ones who will decide who the prime minister will be."

Recent polls by Israeli media outlets such as Maariv, Channel 12, Channel 13 and KAN News all show Eisenkot's Yashar pulling ahead of Netanyahu's Likud party.

However, none of these polls show either of the two main electoral coalitions, the current governing coalition and the opposition coalition (of which Eisenkot is a part), securing a majority of 61 seats in the Israeli Knesset. Instead, an average of the four surveys show the two blocs are virtually tied at about 51 seats apiece.