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Israel to Set up Buffer Zone Along Green Line
Israeli army's Central Commander Yitzhak Eitan Sunday night announced that Israel will set up closed military areas along parts of the Green Line between Israel and the West Bank on September 24.
The plan is part of an arrangement to create a buffer zone along the Green Line, an Israeli army spokeswoman told Xinhua.
This means that the Palestinians who do not live in these areas will need special permits to enter them, and anyone entering without permits could be arrested, she said.
She added that such a zone is aimed at "preventing Palestinian militants from infiltrating into Israel to carry out attacks against Israeli targets."
The order will apply to the area between the West Bank cities of Tulkarm and Jenin, through which the Israeli army suspected many suicide bombers had crossed into Israel in the past year, a statement issued by the spokeswoman said.
Israel and the Palestinians have engaged in bloody clashes for nearly a year and over 800 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed.
The spokeswoman emphasized that the area's width ranges from a few hundred meters to two to three kilometers and that it would not affect the roads Palestinians use and the normal life in the nearby Palestinian towns.
"In addition, the necessary arrangements are being made in order to ensure that the daily life of those people whose homes or permanent business are found near the closed military areas will not be harmed," the statement said.
"It must also be clarified that there will be no disruption to the humanitarian traffic," it concluded.
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