Ten months after the combined terrorist attacks that killed eight Israelis on Highway 12 near Eilat, the road will be opened to evening and nighttime traffic as of Sunday, Army Radio reported.
According to Friday's report, the decision to open the road, which runs near Israel’s border with Egypt, to nighttime traffic, was made after a security assessment and comprehensive preparation to improve security along the highway.
Highway 12 was first closed following the coordinated terrorist attacks in August 2011. It was closed again after the IAF eliminated senior Popular Resistance Committees terrorist Zuheir Al-Qaisi, and remained closed as long as there was reason to believe that a terrorist strike was about to take place there. In March, the road was reopened to daytime traffic.
During the few months that the road was closed, the IDF operated intensively in order to achieve the general conditions that would make travelling on it as safe as possible.
Prior to opening the road, extensive work was done to strengthen the security along the sections of the highway near the border with Egypt. Protective measures were added that are tailored to the existing warnings about possible terrorist activity in the region.
First Sergeant Moshe Naftali of Ofra, who was killed in the terror attack on Highway 12, received a posthumous citation from the Head of Southern Command last month. His family received the citation in his name.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)