W. Bank, Gaza restrictions eased

Travel restrictions relaxed for first time since Hadera attack.

By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH, JPOST.COM STAFF
idf roadblock 298 88 idf (photo credit: IDF [file])
idf roadblock 298 88 idf
(photo credit: IDF [file])
For the first time since the suicide bomb attack in Hadera, Israel on Sunday eased the restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Starting Sunday, 8,000 Palestinian workers from the West Bank will be permitted to enter Israel. An additional 1,000 permits were renewed in order to allow their bearers to work in the Atarot Industrial Zone in northern Jerusalem. The IDF also permitted 500 hotel workers to enter east Jerusalem for work, and 7,000 merchants were allowed to trade in Israel. Palestinians from the West Bank who work with international relief agencies, some 1,700 in total, were allowed to enter Israel and the Gaza Strip. Restrictions were also eased on Gaza Strip workers, with 2,000 permits issued to enter Israel. An additional 1,000 merchants were allowed to enter Israel to trade. In addition, 200 east Jerusalem Palestinian contractors working for international relief agencies were permitted to enter the Gaza Strip. Five hundred Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza were permitted to enter Israel in order to work in former Gaza settlers' factories that were transferred due to the disengagement. Six Israelis were killed in the Hadera attack, when a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up on Wednesday, October 26, outside a popular felafel stand in Hadera's market district. Meanwhile, the commander of the Al Aksa Brigades in Jenin was killed by IDF soldiers operating in the town late Saturday night. The soldiers shot at three armed Palestinians, killing the Al Aksa commander and wounding two others. According to the IDF, the soldiers opened fire after they noticed that the Palestinians were approaching them. Also on Saturday overnight, IDF troops shot and killed one Palestinian and wounded a second near the Gaza security fence as they tried placing an explosive device on the fence.