The IDF is on alert in Judea, Samaria (Shomron) and Jerusalem on Friday over threats of further terrorist attacks. There has been increased violence in the region in recent days, beginning with the outbreak of the Pillar of Defense battle with Gaza terrorists.
On Thursday night the IDF conducted an arrest operation, detaining 28 Palestinian Authority residents suspected of involvement in terrorism.
The night before, 55 suspects were arrested, some of them PA members of parliament affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Both terrorist groups, which call openly for Israel’s destruction, are recognized as political parties in the PA.
As part of its mission to thwart threatened attacks, Jerusalem commanders have restricted access to Friday prayers in the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount. Male worshipers will be allowed in only if they are age 40 or over and have a Jerusalem or Israel ID card, following reports of planned riots in the area.
Several terrorist attacks were carried out by PA residents in Judea and Samaria over the past week. The largest-scale attack was a bus bombing in Tel Aviv carried out by an Arab citizen of Israel guided by PA terrorists in the Binyamin region.
Another attack seriously wounded a 60-year-old woman as she and her daughter drove south of Jerusalem.
On Thursday, the Jerusalem light rail train was attacked as it passed the Arab neighborhood of Beit Hanina. Earlier in the day masked attackers hurled stones at a bus as it drove near Jerusalem’s Old City.
Several other attempted rock and firebomb attacks were reported in Samaria.