All border crossings between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza will remain closed on Sunday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz decided over the weekend, as the manhunt for the two terrorists who carried out a deadly attack in Elad on Thursday intensified.
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Three Israelis were killed in the attack, which took place at the heart of the ultra-Orthodox city in central Israel on Independence Day. The two suspects, Sabhi Shajir and As'ad Alrafa'ani, from the Romana village near the West Bank city of Jenin, fled the scene toward the West Bank, prompting a massive canvass of the area by Israeli security forces.
Israel's border crossings with the Palestinian territories were shuttered on Wednesday, ahead of Memorial Day and Independence Day – a routine measure before these sensitive dates. The closure was originally slated to end on midnight Thursday but was extended in the wake of the gruesome attack.
The Office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories stressed at as always, the measure excludes humanitarian cases.
Gantz is expected to rule on whether to extend the measure again on Sunday evening.
"We will get our hands on the terrorists and ensure they pay the price," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Friday.
Gantz vowed the same in a statement on Saturday, saying, "We will capture the terrorists and punish everyone involved in this incident. These are trying times – we are in the midst of a brutal wave of terror. The IDF, the Shin Bet and police are cooperating and we are examining and considering our steps."
Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai has ordered all districts as well as the Border Police to increase their efforts to apprehend Palestinians who enter Israel illegally, as well as Israelis who assist them in any way.
A police official urge the public to "act responsibly and refrain from employing or harboring undocumented Palestinians. We have no way of knowing if the person we're giving a lift to in a terrorist," he said, adding that providing transportation to Palestinians who enter Israel illegally could result in inadvertently aiding and abetting terrorist activity."
Shabtai, who on Saturday visited the command center set up as part of the manhunt effort, said, "We're seeing close cooperation between all security bodies, the police, the Shin Bet, and the IDF. We will accept no result other than arresting the terrorists, and it is only a matter of time before we get our hands on them.
"We are operating under the assumption that the terrorists are still armed and dangerous, and it is not impossible that they will seek to harm the security forces that engage them."
Meanwhile, Palestinian media reports about the attack and the identity of the terrorist have been conspicuously sparse. Palestinian social media has been rife with calls by users to maintain a "media blackout" o the issue, saying that exposing any information about Shajir and Alrafa'ani online could assist the Israeli manhunt.
On Saturday, Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar called on Palestinians to carry our more attacks against Israel, but said, "don't talk about it online because the enemy is watching."
Meanwhile, the Rabin Medical Center in Petach Tikva said that two Israelis who were critically injured in Thursday's attack are out of immediate danger and are now in serious but stable condition.
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