Jerusalem // Israel on Thursday suspended entry permits for 83,000 Palestinians during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan following an overnight shooting at a popular Tel Aviv nightspot that killed four people. It was the deadliest attack in several months of violence.
“All permits for Ramadan, especially permits for family visits from Judea and Samaria to Israel, are frozen,” said Cogat, the unit which manages civilian affairs in the occupied West Bank.
Besides the 83,000 Palestinians who would be affected, hundreds of residents in the Gaza Strip who had received permits to visit relatives and holy sites during Ramadan would also have access frozen. Cogat said it had frozen permits for 204 relatives of one of the alleged attackers.
The measures were announced after two Palestinians opened fire at a popular Tel Aviv nightspot near Israel’s military headquarters late Wednesday, killing four people in one of the worst attacks in months.
Israel had announced last week it was relaxing restrictions on the movement of Palestinians, mainly from the West Bank, but also those living in Gaza, during Ramadan.
It had planned to allow up to 500 people from Gaza to attend Friday prayers at the Israeli-controlled Al Aqsa mosque compound in east Jerusalem over the holy month, which began on Monday.
Violence since October has killed at least 207 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.
* Agence France-Presse
