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By The Associated PressTwo Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack in the occupied West Bank on Friday morning that also left two suspected gunmen dead, the military said. The prime minister’s office said Friday it had instructed the army to close the occupied West Bank, where the attack occurred.The shooting comes as Israeli voters will decide on Tuesday whether to grant Netanyahu yet another term as prime minister, or usher in a new era of Israeli politics. Also ahead of elections, Arab political parties asked Israel’s Supreme Court to ban election observers from carrying guns. At least one person was killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza while Palestinians in the enclave reported shortages of bread.In Jordan, gunmen opened fire in a church, causing a number of deaths and injuries.Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Friday. Read our full coverage here.Israel’s army says 2 soldiers killed in thwarted ‘terror attack’Two Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack in the occupied West Bank on Friday morning that also left two suspected gunmen dead, the military said, violence that is likely to heighten political tensions and security concerns ahead of Israel’s parliamentary election next week.The army said two soldiers, Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, were killed and three others were lightly wounded during an attack by Palestinian gunmen. The attack took place near the Yehuda Junction outside the West Bank city of Hebron.The army said it had prevented a “terror attack against Israeli civilians” and that the two suspects, both Palestinians from Hebron, were armed with an M16 rifle and a handgun.It said the men arrived at an Israeli military position in the morning, triggering an exchange of fire lasting approximately 20 minutes, after which the gunmen were killed by Israeli troops. The army said its forces prevented the men from advancing further where the attack could have resulted in civilian casualties.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later said it had instructed security forces to immediately cordon off Hebron and prepare for a full closure of the West Bank, starting Friday.During a visit to the site of the attack on Friday, the prime minister said Israel would retaliate with a sweeping anti-terror operation in the Hebron neighborhood where the gunmen had resided.“We will evacuate the residents, we will go house by house, we will also remove the weapons there, and all the terror infrastructure will be dealt with and destroyed,” Netanyahu said.Israeli voters will decide next Tuesday whether to grant Netanyahu yet another term in office — or usher in a new era of Israeli politics. The election comes three years after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.Israel’s government has warned of potential attacks by the country’s “enemies” in the lead-up to the election.Attackers open fire on churchgoers in JordanThe shooting took place in Karak, home to a minority Christian population, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of the capital Amman.It’s not yet clear how many were killed or injured in the attack.Security services are investigating the incident, government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said in a statement.In 2016, Islamic State militants launched an attack on the Karak Castle, a popular tourist site, killing 14 people, including a Canadian tourist. No group immediately claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack.Arab political parties ask Israel’s top court to ban poll observers from carrying gunsArab political parties running in Israel’s national elections have asked the country’s highest court to ban partisan election observers from carrying guns at polling stations.The petition filed Thursday said the ban was critical to protecting public safety and to guaranteeing a free and fair election next Tuesday. Adalah, an Israel-based legal group, joined the Arab parties in filing it at the Supreme Court.It came after Jewish parties headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said they planned to send about 2,000 election observers to Arab neighborhoods, alleging voter fraud in the communities.Palestinians make up about 20% of Israel’s population. The handful of Arab-led parties could prove decisive in the upcoming election, the first since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, if Jewish parties are willing to partner with them to form a governing coalition.UNICEF calls on Israel’s military to stop killing children in GazaUNICEF called on Israel’s military to take immediate steps to stop the killing of children in Gaza, more than a year into a ceasefire.The agency said that the total number of children killed has surpassed 350 since Israel and Hamas reached the agreement last October.“This level of violence against children is unacceptable,” Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.Israel’s military says strikes target Hamas fighters and that it takes steps to mitigate civilian harm.Palestinians in Gaza face bread shortagesCrowds gathered outside bakeries across Gaza on Friday, banging on metal doors and scrambling to obtain bags of bread.The World Food Program announced Monday that it had reduced the number of people receiving assistance in Gaza to 1.1 million from 1.6 million because of a severe funding shortfall.Ibrahim Abu Osama, a resident of Gaza City, said some bakeries had shut down and flour prices had skyrocketed since then. He said he had been unable to find bread.At the same time, commercial shipments into Gaza, including food, were halted for days following a dispute over fees imposed on merchants, before Israel said Monday it would gradually resume them. As of Thursday, commercial shipments had resumed, but not of food.Yemen retracts statement saying gatherings in Houthi-controlled areas would be considered targetsYemen’s defense ministry retracted a statement warning that tribal mobilization gatherings in Houthi-controlled areas would be considered legitimate military targets, calling the statement “wrong and unacceptable.”Defense Minister Taher al-Aqili apologized to Yemen’s tribes in a post on X on Thursday, saying the military would not target tribal gatherings, known locally as “Nakf,” or other civilian assemblies. He said the military would abide by international humanitarian law in all its operations.The statement earlier released by the internationally recognized ministry had warned residents in Houthi-controlled areas against attending such gatherings, accusing the Iran-backed rebels of using rallies and so-called “cultural courses” to mobilize supporters and recruit children for combat. These activities are among the Houthis’ main tools for rallying support and fighters.Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 1Strikes by Israel’s army killed at least one person in southern Gaza Friday morning, according to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.The Israeli military said the strike targeted a Hamas fighter.More than 1,500 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by the Israeli military since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began in October 2025, according to the territory’s health ministry. The ministry maintains detailed records and is regarded as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Part of the Hamas-run government, the ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says women and children make up nearly half of those killed.Foreign ministers meet in Turkey over regional conflictsTurkey hosted meetings Friday with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and European nations — the UK, France, Germany and Italy — to discuss conflicts in the Middle East and efforts to resolve the Russia-Ukraine war.Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is expected to press for diplomacy to ease tensions between the United States and Iran, stress the importance of freedom of navigation through Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandab Strait and reaffirm Turkey’s support for Saudi Arabia in the face of Houthi attacks.At the opening of a conference on mediation in Istanbul ahead of the meetings, Fidan said that in an “increasingly deteriorating environment, the return of diplomacy and mediation for peaceful resolution of conflicts is now more necessary than ever.”This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.