Furthermore, al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid al-Hussein slamming Israeli punitive measures, namely the cancellation of all permits granted to Palestinians to travel during Ramadan, as “mounting to collective punishment” against Palestinians.
Advertisement
The shopping center stood adjacent to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, fueling speculation that the attack may have been inspired by the recent appointment of Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the right wing Yisrael Beiteinu party and illegal settler, to the position of Israeli Defense Minister.
On Friday, it said it would temporarily bar Palestinians from entering Israel until Sunday.
Thousands of Palestinians are expected to show up at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site for the prayers on the first Friday in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
An army spokeswoman said that crossings to Israel from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip would be closed for Palestinians in all but “medical and humanitarian cases”.
He also took issue with Israel’s actions against the family of the two terrorists who were cousins, and the South Hebron Hills village of Yatta in the West Bank, where the two men had been residents. While CNN claims their coverage was “an editing mistake”, MSNBC can’t edit away its claims of the “Occupied West Bank” and “Israel’s extreme right-wing government” so easily.
The army announced that two battalions would be deployed in the West Bank to reinforce troops stationed in the area, where the military maintains a network of checkpoints and often carries out raids to arrest suspected militants.
It also said that Israel imposed a large-scale closure on the West Bank and Gaza, banning Palestinians’ entry into Israel until Monday midnight.
Around 100,000 Palestinians performed the first Friday prayer of the Holy Month at the Noble Sanctuary in the Old City of Jerusalem.
During the past eight months of violence, Israel’s government has repeatedly criticized Palestinian factions for inciting attacks or not doing enough to quell them.
COGAT also froze permits for 204 relatives of one of the alleged attackers. “However the measures taken against the broader population punish not the perpetrators of the crime, but tens – and maybe hundreds – of thousands of innocent Palestinians”, Shamdasani said.
Violence in the region has killed 207 Palestinians, 32 Israelis, 2 Americans, 1 Eritrean and 1 Sudanese since October 2015.
Advertisement
Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks against security officials or civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
