Fearing protests, Israel seals off West Bank

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Fearing fresh protests from Palestinians, Israeli forces have moved to close the West Bank for 48 hours, preventing Palestinians from entering.

The protests have been sparked by a recent decision to include the Al-Aqsa mosque as an Israeli heritage site, as well as a plan by Israel to add up to 1,600 settlement homes in the West Bank.

The Al-Aqsa mosque is a holy site for both Muslims and Jews, however Muslims fear that along with the rest of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa is to be annexed and claimed by Israel. It has been a flash point for conflict during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, sparking the Second Intifada in 2000. Only worshipers with an Israeli identity card and age 50 or over were allowed to pray today at the mosque. In response, Palestinian youths have reportedly thrown rocks at Israeli soldiers, and several Palestinians have been badly wounded.

Some 3,000 Israeli soldiers and policemen are patrolling East Jerusalem, checking ID cards and positioning themselves on rooftops.

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Sources

"Israel seals off occupied West Bank" — Al Jazeera, March 12, 2010
"Israel seals off West Bank to prevent unrest" — Associated Press, March 12, 2010
Matthew Kalman. "Israel seals off West Bank as tensions rise" — Telegraph, March 12, 2010

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Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.