Israel sets 2 day West Bank closure after Palestinian attack

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the closure would remain in force until midnight Sunday.

Thousands of security personnel have also been deployed in Jerusalem Friday to patrol on the first prayers of Ramadan and to prevent any tensions between Muslims and Jews, according to Jerusalem Post.

Sheikh Omar al-Qiswani, the Al-Aqsa Mosque’s Palestinian director, told Anadolu Agency that only about 100,000 worshipers had prayed at Al-Aqsa on the first Friday of Ramadan, compared to some 250,000 past year.

Here’s an ugly footnote to Wednesday’s terror attack in Tel Aviv: The two gunmen now automatically qualify for monthly salaries from the Palestinian Authority.

These concerns included Israel canceling 83,000 travel permits granted to West Bank and Gaza residents during Ramadan, suspending 204 work permits of individuals in the alleged attackers’ extended families and sealing off their entire hometown.

 A spokeswoman for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein condemned the attacks but said the revoking of permits may amount to “prohibited collective punishment” which would only “increase the sense of injustice and frustration felt by Palestinians in this very tense time”.

Israeli media say that one of the Palestinian gunmen who killed four Israelis in Tel Aviv fled the scene of the attack and took refuge in the apartment of a police officer who later arrested him.

About 200 Palestinians have been killed during that time, a lot of them identified by Israel as attackers. Ayrault addressed a small group of reporters on Friday, warning that Israel’s ban on Palestinians entering its territory following the “abominable” attack on a popular cafe in Tel Aviv could escalate violence instead of focus attention on the need to pursue peace.

Last Friday, France hosted an global meeting in Paris attended by more than two dozen Western and Arab countries to try to come up with a new strategy for Mideast peace and revive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which have been all but dead for two years.

That attack, which also wounded five bystanders, has prompted a range of measures from Israel, including a decision to temporarily bar entry for all Palestinians.

Meanwhile, a US State Department spokesman urged Israel to ensure that it does not punish innocent civilians.

Public security minister Gilad Erdan said the police were there to safeguard both Muslim and Jewish prayer at the city’s holy sites over the weekend, when the Jewish festival of Shavuot begins on Saturday.

It also reported violent clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli forces as the latter raided the Jerusalem town of Abu Dis.

At least 207 Palestinians, 32 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed since October.