IDF to place West Bank under general closure during Yom Kippur

Humanitarian, medical and other urgent journeys will be permitted, the army said.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD, YAAKOV LAPPIN
A BORDER POLICE officer patrols the area outside the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City recently. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
A BORDER POLICE officer patrols the area outside the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City recently.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
The IDF will place the West Bank and Gaza border crossings under a general closure on Tuesday evening at the start of Yom Kippur. The closure will be lifted on Wednesday night.
Humanitarian, medical and other urgent journeys will be permitted, the army said.
One day after a deadly Jerusalem terrorist attack jarred the nation, police on Monday said extensive security measures for Yom Kippur, beginning Tuesday night, have been implemented throughout the capital, with “nothing being left to chance.”
In anticipation of thousands of visitors from around the world visiting the Western Wall beginning Monday evening, Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said nearly 4,000 officers will be on hand to closely monitor all activity.
“Overall general security assessments have been made across Israel, with an emphasis on all public areas such as synagogues, central bus and train stations and the Old City,” he said Monday afternoon. “At the same time, during the festivals themselves, we’re having more than 3,500 officers in Jerusalem to carry out security measures, with an emphasis on the Old City, where we’re expecting thousands of people to arrive to go to the Western Wall on Tuesday and Wednesday.”
According to Rosenfeld, a wide range of elite units will be based in Jerusalem, including Border Police, counterterrorism units, special patrol units and undercover units.
“If necessary, they will give an immediate response to any type of incident,” he said, “and these security measures are standard measures taking place despite the terrorist attack that took place over the last 24 hours.”
“The level of security across the country and in Jerusalem is relatively high, and this will continue for as long as necessary throughout the festival period, including Succot, which will last for over two weeks from today,” Rosenfeld said.
Also Monday, security forces mapped out the east Jerusalem home of the terrorist who murdered two Israelis on Sunday, ahead of its demolition. As IDF Combat Engineering units worked to prepare the home for demolition, rioting occurred in the area, and a soldier sustained light wounds from shrapnel caused by a pipe-bomb attack.
The soldier was taken to a hospital for treatment.