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Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire near a checkpoint outside Hebron on Friday, October 23, killing Israeli soldiers Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem and wounding several others before being shot dead by troops. The Israeli military and Shin Bet launched a multi-day counterterrorism operation in Hebron, sealing off the city, sending in roughly 20 military vehicles, demolishing buildings including a tile factory and shops, and forcing residents to evacuate on foot through screened exit points, while parallel raids hit Jenin, Nablus, Bethlehem, Salfit and east Jerusalem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to search Hebron "house by house" and announced plans for a large-scale West Bank military operation he called unprecedented since 1967, with ministers including Bezalel Smotrich demanding a full campaign. Rights group B'Tselem called the demolitions and planned expulsions collective punishment that could constitute war crimes, while Israeli police cleared an AFP photographer who captured the attack of any advance knowledge.