Israel announces closure of Palestinian territories during 2-day Jewish ‘Simchat Torah’ holiday
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israel late on Thursday announced a complete closure of the Palestinian territories during the two-day Jewish Simchat Torah (Joy of the Torah) holiday.
The coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Ghassan Alyan, said in a statement that based on a security assessment and the political level directives, a complete closure of the West Bank would be imposed during the Simchat Torah holiday, in addition to the closure of crossings with Gaza.
He added that the closure began at midnight on Thursday and would end at midnight on Saturday.
The Israeli army said it would allow only medical and humanitarian cases to pass through its military checkpoints.
The Israeli closure is the third in less than a month, following closures on Sept. 18 for the Jewish New Year holiday and Sept. 29 for the Sukkot (Torah-commanded) holiday.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa is the world’s third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the Temple Mount, claiming it was the site of two ancient Jewish temples.
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