IDF to post cameras, lighting in West Bank bus stops

Two weeks after the kidnapping of three Israeli teens from a West Bank bus stop, the IDF’s Central Command has begun examining new safety measures to help prevent similar abductions in the future.

The three teens, Naftali Fraenkel, Gil-ad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach, were abducted from a stop in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem, on June 12.

With relatively infrequent public transportation, many residents of West Bank settlements have to stand at bus stops near Jewish towns and hitchhike to their destinations, IDF officials told the NRG news site over the weekend.

As part of a comprehensive reassessment of the security and safety situation in West Bank bus stops, the IDF is considering installing cameras, railings and better lighting in all stops. Such changes would help prevent kidnappings and attacks by drivers who might attempt to run over those waiting for buses or rides.

“We will create a more robust military presence in the hitchhiking stops, which will hopefully deter future kidnappings,” Lt. Col. Shimon Peretz, deputy commander of the Judea Brigade, the IDF unit that controls the Hebron area, told NRG.

IDF forces have already deployed additional forces to protect bus stops in the West Bank, including through increased patrols.