Alert level raised following attack
Security officials say most warnings received by defense establishment throughout holiday referred to West Bank, but there was no concrete warning on plan to carry out terror attack at central bus station
Following the Tel Aviv terror attack, Central Command officials said that although there were warnings on terror organizations attempts to carry out attacks, there was no concrete warning.
The officials added that there was no information on a terrorist leaving the West Bank toward Israel in the past few days.
The defense establishment is looking into the circumstances of the attack and trying to locate the place the terrorist left from. According to estimations, the suicide bomber came from the West Bank, but it is still unclear how he arrived in Tel Aviv.
The incident is being checked also by the Southern Command, although the probability that the terrorist left toward Israel from the Gaza Strip or Egypt is lower.
The defense establishment currently holds 19 concrete warning on terror organizations' plans to carry out terror attacks and about 80 general warnings, most of them from the West Bank.
Tel Aviv terror attack (Photo: Ofer Amram)
More than 15 male and female terrorists who expressed their intentions of carrying out terror attacks in Israel were detained by the Central Command. In addition, more than 10 drivers of illegal residents were arrested.
High alert throughout holiday
The defense establishment tightened the closure on the territories and the operations around the West Bank were reinforced, both in scope and in the number of forces stationed in the area.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz instructed the IDF to boost its operations in light of terror warnings and the rise in terror organizations' motivation compared to 2005, as was presented to him by senior intelligence officials.
The police's alert level was raised on Passover eve, following the increase in the number of security warnings and in light of the series of assassinations of Palestinian terror activists and the killing of civilians.
Efrat Weiss contributed to the report
