Hawara checkpoint
Photo: Reuters
IDF to seal off West Bank ahead of Rosh Hashana
Security establishment receives 10 specific terror warnings ahead of holiday; police declare highest alert level
Israel Police has declared that it will be functioning at the highest alert level throughout Rosh Hashana - the Jewish New Year - while Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered the IDF to impose a full closure on the West Bank after the security establishment received 10 specific warnings and dozens of general warnings regarding possible attempts by terror groups to carry out attacks over the holiday.
The most concrete threat, according to the security establishment, is a kidnapping attempt by Palestinian organizations in Gaza and the West Bank. The closure is expected to be lifted Wednesday night following a security assessment. During the holiday Palestinians will be permitted to pass through IDF checkpoints only in humanitarian cases and medical emergencies.
At 6 am Monday security forces will begin deploying all over the country, with an emphasis on the Seam Line and the area surrounding Jerusalem. Border Guard officers and Civil Guard volunteers will assist police in the cities. Police presence will be particularity felt at markets, hitchhiking posts, cemeteries and the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City.
Forces will also be deployed in crowded areas, such as parks and entertainment hubs. On New Year's Eve police forces will secure synagogues.
Police will lift the heightened state of alert in accordance with a security assessment Wednesday night.
The security establishment is set to return to a heightened alert level ahead of Yom Kippur.
