IDF to impose closure of West Bank for Palestinians on Memorial, Independence Day
Move is standard practice during Israeli festivals and holidays, seen as periods of increased tensions
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday announced it was imposing a closure on the West Bank, with crossing points closed to Palestinians during the upcoming Memorial Day and Independence Day. Border crossings with the Gaza Strip will also close.
The closure is set to begin on Monday, April 24, at 5 p.m. and last until Wednesday, April 26, at 11:59 p.m.
The IDF said border crossings for Palestinians would reopen “subject to a situational assessment.”
Exceptions to the closures will be made for humanitarian and other outstanding cases, but will require the approval of the Defense Ministry’s liaison to the Palestinians, known as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
Such closures are standard practice during festivals and holidays. The military says they are a preventative measure against attacks in periods of increased tension.
Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have been high for the past year, with the Israeli military conducting near-nightly raids in the West Bank amid a series of deadly Palestinian terror attacks.
Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank have left 19 people dead since the beginning of the year and several more seriously hurt.
At least 92 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year, most of them while carrying out attacks or during clashes with security forces, but some were uninvolved civilians and others were killed under circumstances that are being investigated.
There has also been a rise in settler violence toward Palestinians in recent months.
Memorial Day formally begins at 8 p.m. on Monday with a siren sounding across the nation. Commemorations continue throughout the next day — another siren is sounded at 11 a.m. — until Israelis make the dramatic shift from mourning to jubilation on Tuesday night as the country launches its Independence Day celebrations.
The closure of the border crossings will affect some 130,000 Palestinians from the West Bank who legally work in Israel and Israeli settlements every day, most of them in construction and maintenance. Another 17,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip also have permits to work in Israel.
Israeli citizens will still be permitted to move between the West Bank and Israel.
The Times of Israel Community.