The Israeli military says it has revoked most permits for Palestinians to visit Israel and travel overseas during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, after two Palestinian gunmen killed four Israelis and wounded at least five others in Tel Aviv.
Advertisement
“This latest terrorist attack is a direct result of incitement within the Palestinian community in the West Bank and points to the encouragement of violent anti-Semitism by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement”, Robertson said. Search teams raided West Bank workshops and other sites suspected as possible gun-making locations, police said.
According to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Israel’s military authority in the West Bank, some 83,000 visiting permits for the Muslim holy month had been frozen.
Israel imposed travel restrictions Thursday on tens of thousands of Palestinians and sent hundreds of additional troops into the West Bank in response to a deadly shooting at a popular Tel Aviv tourist spot.
During Ramadan, many Muslims work shorter hours and visit relatives around the country and overseas. The Sarona Market, filled with high-end restaurants and boutiques, is near Israel’s version of the Pentagon.
The victims were identified on Thursday morning: Ido Ben Ari, 42, of Ramat Gan; Ilana Naveh, 39, of Tel Aviv; Mila Mishayev, 32, of Rishon Lezion, and Michael Feige, 58, of Midreshet Beersheba.
“There has been an increase in security operations in and around the West Bank area to try and find factories where the weapons are made”, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told The Associated Press. One was hospitalised after being shot and wounded by police. A relatively muted response by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet reflected the lack of options that Israel seems to have as it grapples with a nine-month wave of violence.
The WJC president added: “Just as there can not be any justification for terrorist acts in Paris, Brussels or Tel Aviv, there must be no cooperation with terrorists. We will act firmly and intelligently”, he added.
MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin repeatedly suggested “that the fact that Israel has a right-wing government and was enacting security measures to prevent attacks, somehow justified attacks on Israeli civilians”, according to the Honest Reporting media watchdog.
As such demands for the immediate execution of suspected attackers grow more frequent, Israel’s new defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has promised to introduce the death penalty for anyone charged with terrorism in Israeli military courts. Four Israelis were killed.
“One is wounded, the other’s condition is unclear at the moment”, said police spokeswoman Merav Lapidot. She said the pair had a “cold, calm look on their faces as they fired everywhere”. Soldiers took measurements of the home in preparation for demolishing it. Israel often responds to terror attacks by demolishing the homes of the assailants or their relatives. The accomplice is being treated at Ichilov Hospital, where his victims also are being treated.
Advertisement
Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, welcomed the attack but did not claim responsibility for it.
