IDF closes crossings into West Bank and Gaza for week of Passover

Security forces regularly step up their preparedness prior to the holidays, regularly imposing closure on the West Bank as there is often an uptick in tensions and violence.

By ANNA AHRONHEIM
A young Palestinian sits and two IDF soldiers stand at the entrance of the Qalandiya crossing, 2019. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
A young Palestinian sits and two IDF soldiers stand at the entrance of the Qalandiya crossing, 2019.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
A week-long closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip will commence on Friday ahead of Passover, the IDF announced Thursday evening.
Following an assessment of the current security situation, all crossings to the West Bank and Gaza will be closed to Palestinians begining on a Friday, April 19, and will last until Saturday, April 27 at midnight with the exception of humanitarian, medical and exceptional cases approved by the IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the IDF said.
Security forces regularly step up their preparedness prior to the holidays, regularly imposing closure on the West Bank as there is often an uptick in tensions and violence.
Several terror attacks have occurred on Passover, including during the Second Intifada in 2002 when Hamas operative Abd El-Basset Oudeh carried out a suicide bombing at the Park Hotel in Netanya during a Seder, killing 29 people and injuring 64 others.