The IDF eased the closure around Ramallah and adjacent areas this morning. Bulldozers removed dirt embankments located around the northern city entrance, although soldiers continue to keep strict tabs on incoming and outgoing traffic. Although the army announced that the closure was removed only partially, Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman reports that there is no difficulty entering and leaving Ramallah.
The IDF also eased travel restrictions around Bethlehem, Hebron, Kalkilyeh, and Tulkarm yesterday, following which the IDF spokesman announced, \"The fact remains that the Palestinian Authority does not prevent terror from its territory but rather encourages it, which hurts first and foremost the Palestinian population itself. In the event that violence and terror attacks are resumed, the necessary steps will be taken.\"
Col. Ilan Paz, Commander of the Binyamin Region, said today that the decision to impose such a rigorous closure on the Ramallah area was his: \"We had certain information about an impending attack that was to be of a different league - not just a regular shooting or a roadside bomb...\" Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman said that some of the terrorists involved in that plot were caught, including one today, but most of them are still free, \"such that it is hard to understand why the closure was removed. It probably has to do with the media, because this was not the first time a closure of this sort was imposed. In previous instances, no one made a big deal, but this time, Channel 2 made an item out of it, and then the other stations picked it up, and suddenly it was an international issue... The IDF spokesman tried to minimize the effect of the removal of the restrictions, saying that the closure is still basically in effect - but if you pass some of the checkpoints, you can see how light the restrictions are compared to yesterday...\"
Arutz-7\'s Haggai Segal summed up as follows: \"The Tanzim terrorists are most likely smiling today. The Israeli media did the work for them: Five or six television items on the \'suffering\' of the Palestinians at the checkpoints, reports on the status of the encirclement on the hour, and the story was over. Ariel Sharon and Binyamin Ben-Eliezer caved in to Arafat\'s psychological warfare and ordered the removal of the barriers. We pray that we will not have to pay a price in blood in the coming days, on both sides of the Green Line. Who knows, maybe they have a better way of dealing with the terrorists who are at this very minute shooting at the Hevron Jewish Community...\"
The IDF also eased travel restrictions around Bethlehem, Hebron, Kalkilyeh, and Tulkarm yesterday, following which the IDF spokesman announced, \"The fact remains that the Palestinian Authority does not prevent terror from its territory but rather encourages it, which hurts first and foremost the Palestinian population itself. In the event that violence and terror attacks are resumed, the necessary steps will be taken.\"
Col. Ilan Paz, Commander of the Binyamin Region, said today that the decision to impose such a rigorous closure on the Ramallah area was his: \"We had certain information about an impending attack that was to be of a different league - not just a regular shooting or a roadside bomb...\" Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman said that some of the terrorists involved in that plot were caught, including one today, but most of them are still free, \"such that it is hard to understand why the closure was removed. It probably has to do with the media, because this was not the first time a closure of this sort was imposed. In previous instances, no one made a big deal, but this time, Channel 2 made an item out of it, and then the other stations picked it up, and suddenly it was an international issue... The IDF spokesman tried to minimize the effect of the removal of the restrictions, saying that the closure is still basically in effect - but if you pass some of the checkpoints, you can see how light the restrictions are compared to yesterday...\"
Arutz-7\'s Haggai Segal summed up as follows: \"The Tanzim terrorists are most likely smiling today. The Israeli media did the work for them: Five or six television items on the \'suffering\' of the Palestinians at the checkpoints, reports on the status of the encirclement on the hour, and the story was over. Ariel Sharon and Binyamin Ben-Eliezer caved in to Arafat\'s psychological warfare and ordered the removal of the barriers. We pray that we will not have to pay a price in blood in the coming days, on both sides of the Green Line. Who knows, maybe they have a better way of dealing with the terrorists who are at this very minute shooting at the Hevron Jewish Community...\"