The Israeli army announced the extension of twenty-four hours of closure of the occupied West Bank until midnight Monday (23 hours in Paris) in the wake of violence that killed at least 12 dead and hundreds injured on Sunday while commemorating the "Nakba" (catastrophe), by appellation in the Arab world from the creation of Israel in 1948 and the exodus of Palestinians that followed.
"This measure was taken as directed by the Department of Defense and based on estimates of the situation," said the spokesman of the army in a statement. During these twenty-four hours, the Palestinians will not be allowed to visit Israel, "except for humanitarian cases and for people requiring medical treatment," said the military spokesman.
The current closure had been imposed in the Saturday night and was to end Sunday at midnight (23 hours in Paris). Demonstrations took place Sunday in the West Bank, but the bloodiest clashes occurred on the outskirts of the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and the occupied Syrian Golan.
The balance of the day was the heaviest recorded at events of the Nakba. In the Syrian Golan Heights, the Israeli army opened fire, killing two Palestinian protesters killed among the entrants who had entered from Syria in the occupied part. This is one of the most serious border incidents between the two countries since the Arab-Israeli war of 1973.
The Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu warned that Israel was determined to defend "its borders and its sovereignty": "I have ordered the army to act with maximum restraint but also keep our borders be enforced. " Ten people were also killed on the Lebanese border, where thousands of Palestinian refugees had gathered in the village of Maroun ar-Ras, one kilometer from Israel, according to the Lebanese army.
Moreover, at least 17 Palestinians were wounded at a checkpoint Kalandia (West Bank), at the entrance to Jerusalem, and nine others in Hebron (southern West Bank). Israel allowed the resumption of transfer of funds belonging to Palestinians who were frozen after the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah, announced Monday on the radio the Minister of Strategic Affairs of Israel, Moshe Yaalon.
"We put these funds because we could verify that the Fatah-Hamas agreement had no effect, security cooperation [between Israel and the Palestinian Authority] has continued on the ground," said Yaalon on public radio. Israel had suspended earlier this month the transfer of a monthly installment of 60 million euros levied on goods destined for Palestinians passing through Israeli ports and airports.
This retaliatory measure was taken following a reconciliation agreement including the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and the Fatah movement led by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president. Finance Minister of Israel, Yuval Steinitz, had explained that this criticism in the world had been taken to prevent the money is paid to a "common fund" and is partly used by Hamas to finance " terrorist activities.
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"This measure was taken as directed by the Department of Defense and based on estimates of the situation," said the spokesman of the army in a statement. During these twenty-four hours, the Palestinians will not be allowed to visit Israel, "except for humanitarian cases and for people requiring medical treatment," said the military spokesman.
The current closure had been imposed in the Saturday night and was to end Sunday at midnight (23 hours in Paris). Demonstrations took place Sunday in the West Bank, but the bloodiest clashes occurred on the outskirts of the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and the occupied Syrian Golan.
The balance of the day was the heaviest recorded at events of the Nakba. In the Syrian Golan Heights, the Israeli army opened fire, killing two Palestinian protesters killed among the entrants who had entered from Syria in the occupied part. This is one of the most serious border incidents between the two countries since the Arab-Israeli war of 1973.
The Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu warned that Israel was determined to defend "its borders and its sovereignty": "I have ordered the army to act with maximum restraint but also keep our borders be enforced. " Ten people were also killed on the Lebanese border, where thousands of Palestinian refugees had gathered in the village of Maroun ar-Ras, one kilometer from Israel, according to the Lebanese army.
Moreover, at least 17 Palestinians were wounded at a checkpoint Kalandia (West Bank), at the entrance to Jerusalem, and nine others in Hebron (southern West Bank). Israel allowed the resumption of transfer of funds belonging to Palestinians who were frozen after the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah, announced Monday on the radio the Minister of Strategic Affairs of Israel, Moshe Yaalon.
"We put these funds because we could verify that the Fatah-Hamas agreement had no effect, security cooperation [between Israel and the Palestinian Authority] has continued on the ground," said Yaalon on public radio. Israel had suspended earlier this month the transfer of a monthly installment of 60 million euros levied on goods destined for Palestinians passing through Israeli ports and airports.
This retaliatory measure was taken following a reconciliation agreement including the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and the Fatah movement led by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president. Finance Minister of Israel, Yuval Steinitz, had explained that this criticism in the world had been taken to prevent the money is paid to a "common fund" and is partly used by Hamas to finance " terrorist activities.
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