The IDF has ordered three battalions deployed in Yehuda and Shomron in light of the sharp escalation of Arab terror attacks. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-General Gadi Eizenkott held an assessment on Wednesday, 22 Shevat, at which time his senior commanders and intelligence personnel briefed him of the situation. After recent attack that claimed the lives of Rabbi Raziel Shevach HY” and Rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal HY”D, the decision was made to increase the military’s presence in Yehuda and Shomron, in addition to increasing counter-terrorism measures and operations.

Residents of Yehuda and Shomron are angry, with some leaders explaining there is a feeling they have been abandoned by the government. There are demands to return to the former realities in which there are additional checkpoints on roadways, and to close certain roads to PA residents, but at present this is not occurring.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)