By JPOST.COM STAFFTroops arrest Palestinians 248.88(photo credit: )
A day after the army began removing 100 dirt and stone roadblocks in the West Bank in an effort to make life easier for Palestinians, the IDF thwarted a stabbing attack on Thursday morning in the Metzad settlement of Gush Etzion.
The IDF said that three Palestinians were seen cutting through the security fence surrounding the settlement, and that after arresting the group, soldiers found them to be armed with knives.
Security sources told Army Radio that during interrogations, the three confessed to planning to attack soldiers on an army base located at the settlement.
Gush Etzion Regional Council head Shaul Goldstein responded to the incident by saying that "this attack could have ended in a completely different way."
Speaking to Army Radio, Goldstein said that the council was "calling on the defense establishment not to treat Judea and Samaria as if peace has already broken out."
Meanwhile, police across the country have heightened their alert level ahead of the approaching High Holidays. Police were deploying along the West Bank border, throughout shopping and entertainment centers, and along major thoroughfares in order to prevent disturbances and attacks on civilians.
Authorities planned to lift the heightened alert after the holiday of Succot.
As part of the alert, roadblocks were set up along the West Bank border and at entrances to towns in an attempt to prevent hostile elements and Palestinians without permits from entering Israel. Police sappers began to conduct patrols and preliminary searches in key areas.
Also on Thursday IDF prepared to enforce a general travel closure on Palestinians in the West Bank for the Rosh Hashana holiday.
The restrictions will be lifted on Sunday night.
The army said that 2,500 Palestinian workers were to be allowed entry into Israel, but that otherwise, Arab West Bank residents would be let in only in serious medical or humanitarian cases.
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