By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israeli security forces across Israel were on the highest level of alert Friday, after Thursday night’s shooting attack in Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, which left eight people dead.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni vowed in a statement that “Israel will never allow terrorism to achieve its goals.”
Reevaluating situation
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Friday morning ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to impose a closure on the West Bank, the spokeswoman of IDF told Xinhua. The closure is set to continue until security forces re-evaluate the situation in several days, she added.
An organization calling itself “Galilee Freedom Battalions – the Martyrs of Imad Mughniyeh” claimed responsibility for the attack on Thursday evening, according to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television. The veracity of the claim was not clear.
According to local report, the attacker came from east Jerusalem. Israel Police refused to provide more details, but several residents of the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber gave the terrorist’s name as Alaa Abu Dhein, 20, and said he had worked as a driver at the yeshiva.
Israel Police fear violence in Jerusalem’s Old City, where both Jews and Muslims gather for prayer on Friday. Al-Aqsa mosque overlooks the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site.
Thousands of police officers were deported in Jerusalem and a limit was imposed Palestinian access to Friday prayers at the al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.
Only Muslim men over the age of 45 with a valid blue identity card will be allowed to enter the Temple Mount for prayers. Female worshippers will not be limited from entering, Army Radio said.
Jerusalem Police Chief Aharon Franco said the forces were working to prevent another tragedy from occurring in the city. “We’ve deployed force in every street in Jerusalem, with an emphasis on public places,” he said.
Overnight Friday, IDF soldiers arrested eight wanted Palestinian terror suspects across the West Bank. The detainees were taken in for questioning by security forces.