Head of the Beit El Council Shai Alon announced to Binyamin Brigade Commander Colonel Sharon Asman if he opens the “Blocked Focus” checkpoint tomorrow leading from Ramallah and al-Bira to Route 60, he and the residents of the town will come block the road.
“Blocked Focus” has been closed for many years and reopened two years ago, allows arab cars to pass through from Ramallah and al-Bira to Route 60. That same route is also used by residents of Beit-El outside of the town.
The road allows arabs to pass quickly to the superficial Section A, and through it the terrorists escaped during the last terror attacks. A terrorist attacked a soldier on Friday while trying to infiltrate the town. The soldier fought him off, but he managed to escape, but later turned himself in. The day before, 2 soldiers were killed, a civilian injured and a third soldier is still in critical condition.
“An inconceivable situation has arisen that the army has decided to make it easier for the palestinian arabs to allow them more free movement and in exchange they turn it into an axis of terrorists,” said council head Shai Alon
“How can assure the residents safe travel today when the vehicles close to them arrive from Ramallah and can escape to Ramallah without any security forces being able to arrest them. I as head of the council guarantee their security.”
He said, “On Sunday morning, when I discovered that the roadblock was open, I called the Brigade Commander and told him that I was going to block the road with my body. He had blocked the crossing but said it would only be valid for 48 hours . because this is the situation then the residents of Beit El will come tomorrow to replace the army and will take care of themselves to block the passage of arab vehicles.”