Israeli security forces are cracking down on metal workshops in the West Bank suspected of manufacturing a crude homemade gun, which has emerged as the weapon of choice for Palestinian attackers in months of deadly assaults on civilians and soldiers- including in this week’s Tel Aviv shooting that killed four Israelis. Palestinians have been prohibited to take part in prayers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque at Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
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Relatives and friends mourn during the funeral of Ido Ben Ari, one of four Israelis who was killed in an Palestinian shooting attack in Tel Aviv, at a cemetery in Yavne, Israel, June 9, 2016.
Cogat, the Israeli body in charge of managing civilian affairs in the West Bank said visas for some 204 relatives of the suspected attackers had also been halted.
Israel’s punitive policies against Palestinians are often the target of condemnation among rights groups around the world, who point out that such punitive measures constitute a form of “collective punishment” and represent a clear violation of worldwide law.
“Like any other country in the same situation, Israel is taking legitimate steps in order to defend its citizens from terrorists who are backed by the incitement and the glorification of death and martyrdom, inflated by the Palestinian leadership and society”, it said.
Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War.
“Despite this, they know how to return to life and prove that life is stronger than terror”.
“Real weapons” are now hard to find and expensive in the West Bank due to raids carried out by Israel as well as those undertaken by forces of the Palestinian government, which rules about a third of the territory.
“I come here first and foremost to salute the people of Tel Aviv, who have absorbed a hard incident again, a harsh terrorist attack”, he told reporters.
Israel has a human rights obligation to bring those responsible to account for their crimes.
“We of course want to allow (Jewish) worshippers here in the Old City and throughout Jerusalem to pray in safety and also for Muslims to get here freely and allow them freedom of worship”, he said in an address broadcast from the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.
On Thursday, however, the UN Security Council issued its first condemnation against Palestinian violence since the wave of attacks began in mid-September.
At least 207 Palestinians, 32 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed since October.
Since October past year, 32 Israelis and two visiting USA citizens have been killed by Palestinians.
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MEE contacted an Israeli security forces spokesperson on Friday for a response to Reynolds’ comments but had not received any by the time of publication.
