JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel shut off the Palestinian territories for the holy Jewish day of atonement and went on alert on Friday for a possible attack, 34 years after Syria and Egypt launched a surprise assault.
Troops were reportedly on alert on the Syrian border and the stringent security measures blocked thousands of Palestinians who wanted to cross from the occupied West Bank to pray in Jerusalem on the second Friday of Ramadan.
"In light of the significant terror threat during the Yom Kippur Jewish holiday and according to the decision of the defence minister, a general closure will be implemented in (the West Bank) and the Gaza Strip," the army said.
The closure came into effect overnight and is scheduled to be lifted at midnight (2200 GMT) on Saturday. Only those in need of humanitarian aid will be allowed to cross into Israel during the lockdown.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees accused Israel of preventing more than 200 staff members from reaching work in the Jerusalem area on Friday and warned that hundreds of thousands of aid money would be wasted.
The closure, routinely imposed for Israeli public holidays, also means that Palestinians living in the West Bank can not come to Israel or occupied and annexed east Jerusalem even if they ordinarily have permits to do so.
The lockdown for the holiest day in the Jewish calendar prevented Muslim faithful living in the West Bank from being able to pray at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the site of which is holy to both Jews and Muslims.
From early morning, thousands of would-be worshippers with Israeli permits descended on the main Qalandiya checkpoint on the road from the West Bank town of Ramallah to Jerusalem, hoping to be allowed to cross as last week.
But the army deployed reinforcements to prevent any disturbance and soldiers used loudspeakers to urge the crowds to clear the area.
Independent Palestinian MP and former cabinet minister Mustafa Barghuthi was detained by border guards at a checkpoint to the north, he told AFP.
Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip can go to Israel only in extraordinary cases. The Erez terminal between Gaza and Israel will anyway be closed during the holiday along with all points of entry to the Jewish state.
Police have heightened their alert to level three, one short of the maximum level reserved for times of war, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
Thousands of officers and auxiliary forces were deployed on Friday around markets and public places, and protective measures around synagogues were being increased out of fear of attack, police said.
On the Syrian border, Israeli troops were on alert and officers cancelled some leave requests, local media reported.
This year is the 34th anniversary of the start of the 1973 Yom Kippur War when Egypt and Syria launched a surprise assault on Israel that cost the lives of 2,700 Israelis and which continues to haunt the Jewish state.
"We will do everything in our power so that the Tsahal (army) is not taken by surprise and again finds itself in the situation as before the Yom Kippur war," chief of army staff General Gaby Ashkenazi pledged late on Thursday.
Yom Kippur is the most important holiday in Judaism. The observant neither eat nor drink from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday as they pray for forgiveness for their sins.
Israel suspends all TV and radio broadcasts, stops all public transport and closes ports and airports during the holiday, along with entertainment venues.
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