Israel to close West Bank crossings on election day as crackdown escalates
Israel will shut every land crossing with the West Bank on election day, after gunmen killed two soldiers at a checkpoint near Hebron — and around two thousand Hebron residents have already been forced from their homes in the widening crackdown.
Israel has announced that all land crossings with the West Bank will close on election day, Tuesday, as part of a widening security crackdown in the territory.
The crackdown followed a shooting at a checkpoint near Hebron on Friday, in which gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others. The attackers were also killed.
Israeli forces then swept into Hebron, forcing around two thousand people from their homes and marking emptied buildings. Defence Minister Israel Katz said residents would not be allowed back until the operation in Hebron is finished.
From Sunday, Palestinian workers are also barred from entering Israeli communities and industrial zones in the West Bank and Jordan Valley for work, and the army says it has operated in forty areas and detained around forty suspects.
The Palestinian Authority has called for international pressure to protect residents, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — facing a tight election race on Tuesday — vowed a heavy price and warned of a larger operation to come.
Reporting based on coverage from BBC News.