The Governor of Samaria, Yossi Dagan, as well as Mayor Yehonatan Kuznitz of Karnei Shomron and Mayor Ozel Vatik of Kedumim, wrote an urgent letter to General Yehuda Fox, who leads the IDF Central Command, regarding the decision to reopen a road that has been closed since October 7th due to fear of terrorist attacks.
The Israeli officials were not alerted beforehand that the reopening would take place during the historically tense period of Ramadan, or indeed that it would be reopened to Palestinian traffic at all.
“We were shocked to discover, with no prior warning, that the road leading to the towns of murderers - Haje, Baqa, and Qadum - along which murderers have traveled in the past to reach their targets, has once again been opened to continual traffic, after being closed since the war broke out,” the letter begins.
“The direct results of opening this road will be a return to significant traffic congestion on the main road in Funduq, which both reduces the quality of life and creates a weak point in terms of security, as we saw in the recent attack near Maaleh Adumim and before that in Huwara,” Dagan warns.
He concludes: “It makes no sense that during Ramadan, during which incitement to murder Jews on social media and in mosques reaches its peak, Israel should once again allow terrorists the convenience and opportunity to attack Jews. For the good of the security of our residents, we request that the road be immediately re-closed, so as to reduce traffic through Funduq and eliminate the risk to Israelis driving through the area. We left that misconception on October 7th and must not return to it.”