Middle East News
Israel to seal off West Bank ahead of Jewish New Year
Sep 7, 2010, 20:24 GMT
Tel Aviv - Israel will close off the West Bank at one minute to midnight (20:59 GMT) Tuesday, in advance of the two-day Jewish New Year festival that begins at sundown on Wednesday, a military spokesman announced Tuesday night.
The West Bank crossing points will be be reopened at midnight on Saturday, in accordance with 'security assessments,' the statement said.
Israel usually seals off the West Bank ahead of major Jewish festivals, for fear that militants might try to launch attacks.
The Islamist Hamas movement, which killed four people and injured two others in a pair of shooting incidents in the West Bank last week, has vowed to step up its attacks as Israel and the Palestinians resume direct peace talks.
In 2002, a Hamas suicide bomber killed 30 people and injured 140 others when he blew himself up as Israelis were beginning a festive Passover dinner in a hotel in the Israeli resort of Netanya.
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