The Israeli army closed the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip yesterday, stopping Palestinians crossing into Israel, even as talks between the government and Palestinian leaders continued. At least one armed Palestinian was killed in renewed violence. The closure in effect cancelled plans to loosen travel restrictions to allow Palestinians to pray at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and visit relatives for the Muslim festival of Eid, which began yesterday. Thousands of Palestinians still cross into Israel daily to work, though the numbers issued permits are a small fraction of those allowed in before the intifada. The Israeli army said the reason for the closure was an exceptionally high number of intelligence warnings of attacks by Palestinian militants. The closure coincided with heightened security in Britain and the United States amid fears of an al-Qa’ida attack during the Muslim holiday. The Israeli authorities have repeatedly sought to present their conflict with the Palestinians as equivalent to President George Bush’s “war on terror”. Full Story
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