Police forces were deploying in the Jerusalem district due to an intelligence alert. Security forces took stations throughout the main roads and thoroughfares and checkpoints were set.
After several hours of heightened alert, police released a statement saying the alert had been lifted and the checkpoints removed.
It should be noted that over the past two weeks, since the end of the Muslim Eid al-Adha ("Sacrifice Feast") holiday, the security situation has significantly worsened, especially in the Jerusalem, Hevron, and Gush Etzion areas.
In a series of stabbing attacks, several IDF soldiers and policemen have been wounded, including a policewoman who was seriously wounded near Herod's Gate in Jerusalem's Old City and an IDF soldier who was moderately wounded in the town of Efrat in Gush Etzion.
Security screening procedures at the entrance to Jerusalem have been made more stringent several times over the past two weeks.