Israel has temporarily banned every Palestinian worker from West Bank settlements in line with two stabbing attacks on Israelis for the past days. This decision became the result of the consultation that top security officials have created last Monday.
According to Haaretz, Israel Defense Forces' Judea and Samaria commander, Brig. Gen. Lior Carmelli, announced though that the ban is not applicable to those who work in industrial zones in the West Bank. An army source also shared that the decision will be reviewed every single day.
It was last Sunday and Monday that the two stabbing attacks have resulted in one dead 39-year-old mother of six and one relatively injured pregnant woman. Times of Israel reported that a Palestinian terrorist stabbed Dafna Meir to death at the entrance of her home which is located in Otniel. The criminal is yet to be found and identified.
Then, a Palestinian teenager knifed Michal Froman, who is 18 weeks pregnant, on Monday morning inside the Bethlehem area settlement in Tekoa. Froman was reported to be already safe, as well as her baby, after her surgery later that day.
As for the Palestinians, there are around 20,000 who are currently employed in the settlements. Most of them are working in manufacturing, construction and agriculture. This means that several Israeli businesses found in the settlements will be affected as well by the said ban that is viewed to be a collective punishment. But for the Israeli military, this is not true. They see the ban as a necessary requirement though due to security considerations, said Newsweek.
To date, the Palestinians have already killed 25 Israelis since October 1. Such attacks, however, rarely happen in the settlement blocs as there are heightened security and construction of walls. Meanwhile, Israeli forces or civilians already killed at least 148 Palestinians in which 94 were attackers.
