TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli forces continued a large-scale operation in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, two days after a gun attack in Hebron killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others. The military said it had searched more than 400 locations and arrested 40 Palestinians it said were affiliated with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The operation has brought Hebron to a near standstill. The city’s entrances and exits remained sealed, and Israeli forces ordered residents of Deir Bahha, the neighborhood suspected of being home to the attackers, to evacuate. Hebron Mayor Yousef Zuhair Al-Jabari said the restrictions had affected daily life across the city, forcing businesses and a mosque to close. The Hebron municipality said more than 2,200 people, including nearly 300 minors, had been displaced. Officials said families had left nearly 500 apartments in Deir Bahha and nearby neighborhoods. Some residents were forced to walk through military gates to leave, while others tried to get through for medical appointments or to move basic supplies. Israel’s military said it found weapons in the attackers’ car and that they appeared to have been planning to attack Israeli civilians before being stopped at a checkpoint. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and three members of his right-wing government visited the attack site Friday. Netanyahu vowed a forceful response, saying Israel would act to destroy the place from which the attack came. The military operation is unfolding just ahead of Tuesday’s Israeli election, widely viewed as a test of Netanyahu’s leadership and security record after three years of war. Netanyahu faces pressure to demonstrate that his government can protect Israelis from attacks. The military said most Palestinian workers with permits would be barred from entering Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Sunday and Monday. Crossings into Israel were to remain closed until after the election. “The blockade has affected every aspect of life,” Al-Jabari said. Hebron resident Shadi al-Qawasmi, whose family was displaced, said officials had told residents the area could remain closed for 12 days, though he added that the timeline might change. The West Bank has seen a sharp rise in violence. Six Israelis have been killed in attacks there this year, while 112 Palestinians, including the suspected gunmen, have been killed, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, based in Ramallah. About 3 million Palestinians and 540,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Hebron is among the territory’s most volatile cities and the only one where Israeli settlers live in the center of a densely populated Palestinian area under Israeli military protection.