News / Palestine

Israel bans all Palestinians from West Bank settlements

Tuesday, 19 January 2016 8:18 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 19 January 2016 8:20 AM ]

Israeli forces are seen at a bus stop as Palestinian laborers exit a bus near the city of Nablus on Oct. 30, 2015. ©AFP

All Palestinian workers have been banned from Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank in the wake of two attacks against Israelis in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The ban went into effect as of Tuesday on the back of a decision by Brigadier General Lior Carmeli, the commander of the Israeli military forces in the West Bank, The Times of Israel reported, citing a spokesman for the military.

The restriction has been imposed for an indefinite period of time.

An estimated 20,000 Palestinians work in the settlements built illegally by Tel Aviv since its occupation of the territory in 1967.

The file photo shows Palestinian women looking at buildings destroyed by Israeli bulldozers south of the city of al-Khalil (Hebron) in southern Tel Aviv-occupied West Bank.

The decision followed a fatal attack against Dafna Meir, a 38-year-old Israeli woman, in the Otniel settlement in the southern West Bank on Sunday.

A similar attack was reported in the Tekoa settlement farther north, in which another Israeli, named as Michal Froman, was moderately injured.

Israeli authorities have blamed Palestinians for both incidents, which happened amid ongoing tensions between Israelis and Palestinian protesters.

Since October 2015, at least 162 Palestinians and over two dozen Israelis have been killed.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has voiced concern over “extrajudicial killing” of Palestinians by Israeli forces.

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