IDF imposes closure on territories due to terror warnings By Roni Singer, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service Police declared a high alert in the Sharon area on Wednesday after receiving a specific warning of a terror attack. Roadblocks were set up on the roads leading into main cities in the region, as well as along the 1967 Green Line border.
The IDF, meanwhile, imposed a complete closure on the territories Wednesday morning that will be in effect over the Passover holiday, after receiving warnings of attacks planned by Palestinian militants. The week-long Passover holiday begins at sundown on Wednesday. The army said in a statement it would impose „a complete closure” on travel from the West Bank or Gaza into Israel, except for humanitarian cases, and close Gaza’s Mediterranean shores to fishermen. Security forces set up roadblocks Tuesday night around Jerusalem due to warnings that terror organizations were preparing to carry out attacks in the capital on Tuesday night or in the upcoming days, Army Radio reported. The security establishment is taking special precautions for Passover after receiving some 56 warnings of terror attacks during the holiday. The warnings include suicide attacks, booby-trapped cars, bombs, infiltration attacks and the kidnapping of soldiers. The army will also increase its forces along the seam line, soldiers’ leave will be reduced and soldiers will be reminded of IDF orders regarding hitch-hiking. Hundreds of policemen and volunteers will step up security in the center of the country during the holiday, especially in the hotel area in Netanya, shopping centers, outdoor markets, central bus stations and beaches, as well as synagogues. Security forces expect terror organizations, especially Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to make a special effort to carry out terror attacks on the anniversary of the Park Hotel attack in Netanya, in which 29 people were killed on seder night last year, in order to reinstate the Palestinian issue on the international agenda.
