• Netanyahu faces tight race against Bennett, Lapid, Eisenkot in tomorrow’s polls
• Warns Iran against attempts to disrupt elections
• Israeli strikes kill seven people in Gaza, including three at university

HEBRON: With just one day to go before Israel’s Oct 27 general election, Israel said Sunday that all land crossings with the West Bank would be closed on election day, as an Israeli strike on a university in Gaza City killed three people, according to staff and a local hospital, while the civil defence agency reported four more deaths elsewhere in the territory.

The announcement came a day after Israeli forces pushed into the occupied West Bank city of Hebron and displaced around 2,000 residents, with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying, “they will not be allowed to return... until we’ve finished dealing with all the Hamas issues in Hebron.”

Hamas, while not claiming credit, hailed Friday’s killings at a checkpoint near the Palestinian city.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to exact a heavy price for the attack just days before polls and said he was planning an operation on a scale not seen since Israel first occupied the West Bank in 1967.

He said that Iran and its allies might try to disrupt Tuesday’s Israeli elections, warning the Islamic republic against any hostile acts.

Israel’s longest serving prime minister Netanyahu is facing a tight race for a new term in Tuesday’s polls, with his security-first reputation all but shattered by the Oct 7, 2023 attack.

With just one day to go before general election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a tough contest as several prominent rivals seek to end his long hold on power. Among his main challengers are former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, veteran politician Avigdor Lieberman, Arab party leader Mansour Abbas and Yair Golan. The election is shaping up to be a crucial test of Netanyahu’s leadership, with the opposition seeking to challenge his governing coalition.

The Israeli army said that from Sunday, Palestinians would “not be permitted to enter Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley for work”, using terms many in Israel use to refer to the West Bank.

The army also said it would enforce “a ban on the entry and exit of Pale­stinian workers throughout Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, including industrial zones, as well as the closure of all land crossings throughout Election Day” on Oct 27, it added.

The Palestinian Authority called for international pressure on Israel to protect residents affected by the military operation.

The Israeli army said that over Friday and Saturday, it operated in 40 areas throughout the territory, with locals reporting that soldiers announced evacuations over loudspeakers late at night.

Israeli forces said they “apprehended approximately 40 suspects”.

Right-wing Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he personally ordered “the immediate demolition of a row of illegal structures” following Friday’s shooting.

“Anyone who messes with us will quickly understand that he will pay a painful price,” he wrote on X.

Strike on university

Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on a university in Gaza City killed three people on Sunday, staff and a local hospital said, while the civil defence agency reported four others killed elsewhere in the territory.

Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said four other people were also killed, two in an airstrike in the southern city of Khan Yunis, one in central Deir al Balah and one in the north of the Strip.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2026