Settlements warned to stay alert following multiple attacks

In light of Monday night’s stabbing attack in a Jewish settlement outside of Jerusalem, the IDF has encouraged civilian security personnel in the West Bank to carry their weapons at all times.

In addition, Palestinians will not be allowed to travel into or out of the Palestinian town of Beit Ur al-Tahta, where one of the terrorists from Monday’s attack hailed from, except for “humanitarian cases” — for ambulances or other emergency rescue services — an IDF spokesperson said.

Palestinian workers will also not be allowed into the Otniel and Beit Horon settlements on Tuesday, the official said.

On Monday evening two terrorists climbed over the fence into Beit Horon, located on a major highway just outside Jerusalem. The pair stabbed two women, 23-year-old Shlomit Krigman, who died of her wounds on Tuesday, and a 58-year-old woman.

The pair tried to enter a grocery store but were kept out by the market’s proprietor, who fought the two men off with a shopping cart.

A civilian security guard then shot and killed the pair as they continued their rampage through the settlement, throwing three homemade pipe bombs near the store that failed to detonate, police said.

Following the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army Monday evening to prepare a wide-ranging plan to increase settlement security.

Under Netanyahu’s orders, the army set up a perimeter around Beit Ur al-Tahta and took away work permits from members of the attackers’ families — a standard practice of the Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration, which manages the relationship between Palestinians and the Israeli government, a spokesperson said.

Tensions have already been high in the West Bank following the fatal stabbing of Dafna Meir, a mother of six, in the Otniel settlement outside of Hebron on Sunday night and the attack on Michal Froman, who was five months pregnant, in the Tekoa settlement the next day.

Following those attacks, the IDF limited the entrance of Palestinian workers into some Jewish communities in the West Bank. Palestinians were first barred from entering most Jewish settlements, but that restriction was eased on Sunday to allow workers to enter all settlements except for Otniel — and now Beit Horon, as well.

Private security personnel and civilian first response teams, who have ties to the IDF and receive rifles from the army, have also been put on high alert due to the string of attacks, the army said.

“Whoever has an IDF weapon has been instructed to carry it at all times,” an IDF spokesperson said.

This measure was not a change in procedure but merely an added emphasis on alertness, the official added.

The head of the Tekoa settlement’s security program also encouraged residents to arm themselves in light of the attacks.

“We request that all those with civilian gun permits (pistols) to also carry their weapons throughout the day,” Tekoa security wrote in an email to residents.