Israel Seals West Bank Crossings Before Tuesday Vote as Hebron Operation Continues

The Israeli military kept up a large-scale operation in the West Bank on Sunday, imposing heavy movement restrictions in the days before Israel's national elections.

The campaign follows an attack on Friday in Hebron that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others. Over the past two days, the operation has forced hundreds of Palestinians from their homes.

Hebron's municipality said more than 2,200 residents have been displaced, nearly 200 of them children under 18. Mayor Yousef Zuhair Al-Jabari said every entrance and exit to the city has been sealed since the attack. He described the focus of the operation as Deir Bahha and a part of the city known as Al-Jalda. "People cannot reach or enter the city, and they cannot leave it. The blockade has affected every aspect of life," he said.

The Israeli military said its forces worked in more than 400 locations across the West Bank over the weekend. It said it arrested 40 Palestinians it described as affiliated with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The military also announced that most Palestinian workers who hold permits will not be allowed into Israeli settlements for work on Sunday and Monday. Crossings into Israel are to stay closed until after Tuesday's election.

The vote is widely viewed as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership and his security policies during three years of war.

Violence in the West Bank has continued this year. Six Israelis have been killed in attacks there, while 112 Palestinians have died over the same period, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry.

Friday's attack caused anger in Israel. Netanyahu and three members of his right-wing government made statements at the site that afternoon. "We warned a few weeks ago about attempts by our enemies to harm us, our citizens and our soldiers ahead of the election," Netanyahu said. "We will act to destroy this place."

Netanyahu is seeking reelection and faces pressure to show strength against Palestinian attackers, in order to bolster his standing with Israelis worried about security.

About 3 million Palestinians and 540,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war. Hebron is among its most tense cities, and the only place where Jewish settlers live in the heart of a densely populated Palestinian area under Israeli military protection.