«Israel» Shuts West Bank, Gaza for Jewish Holiday

Local Editor

The "Israeli" apartheid regime had barred Palestinians from entering the country from the occupied West Bank or the Gaza Strip ahead of the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday that begins on Tuesday evening, the army said.

Such closures are often put in place for major Jewish holidays, but "Israeli" Occupation Forces [IOF] are on especially high alert following a heroic Palestinian operation in al-Quds [Jerusalem] on Sunday that killed two settlers.

Hundreds of Jews visit the Western Wall in east al-Quds' Old City during Yom Kippur [the Day of Atonement in Hebrew], which ends on Wednesday evening.

The closure, in place Tuesday and Wednesday, applies only to Palestinians and not the roughly 400,000 "Israeli" settlers who live in the West Bank.

The Gaza Strip is always under an "Israeli" blockade, though some crossings are usually allowed for work or medical purposes.

Humanitarian and urgent medical cases will be allowed through during the holidays despite the closure, the army said.

More than 3,000 police are being deployed in al-Quds for the holiday.

Meanwhile, the "Israeli" army said it had demolished the West Bank home of a Palestinian sentenced to life in prison.

The home of Amjad Aliwi, an apartment on the third floor of a building in the West Bank city of Nablus, was destroyed overnight with explosives, Palestinian police said.

The "Israeli" army also accused him of buying the gun that was used to kill them.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team