On the eve of Tuesday’s parliamentary elections, Israel cordoned off the West Bank and Gaza, including the Karam Abou Salem crossing used for the passage of goods, gas and fuel into the coastal enclave.
The Israeli army spokesman announced the imposition of a security barrier and the closure of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, except for humanitarian cases.
“There are quite a few extremist activists who want to take advantage of the situation to carry out hostile attacks,” Israeli security sources said.
“The Israeli army, the General Security Service, the Border Police and the Israeli Civil Police are preparing for every possible scenario, including hostile operations carried out by individuals in an attempt to strike security forces or civilians.”
“One unusual field incident could ignite an entire region,” the sources added.
Hours before the elections, Israeli forces arrested 21 Palestinians from Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron, Qalqilya and Tulkarem.
As part of the preparations, police announced that they would “reinforce deployment of forces throughout the country to enable all registered voters to safely reach thousands of polling stations and exercise their right to vote.”
According to the security plan, 17,000 police and volunteers, as well as thousands of civilian security guards, will be deployed at various polling stations. There will be more than 10,000 ballot boxes in more than 4,000 polling stations throughout Israel.
“Public and secret forces will work in polling stations and in the surrounding areas to prevent any illegal activity that would harm the integrity of the election and its proper functioning,” according to the Israeli police.
