Jerusalem, Apr 8 (IANS): Israeli authorities announced on Monday that the Army would close all border crossings into the occupied territory of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip ahead of the general election on Tuesday.
The general closure of the Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and the crossings into Gaza, which has been under Israeli blockade since 2007, is set to begin midnight Monday, according to Israel's public broadcaster Kan.
Authorities said that the crossings will return to normal on Wednesday following the election, Efe news reported.
Israel controls all crossings into the Palestinian territories, except the Rafah crossing between the Strip and Egypt, and usually closes them during times of conflict or on Jewish holidays such as Purim, Passover or Yom Kippur, which is the most sacred holiday in the Jewish faith.
On Saturday, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would extend Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank if re-elected for a fifth term.
Netanyahu said he was contemplating moves that would upend decades of Israel's policy acknowledging that the lands it seized in the 1967 war would be part of a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians.
The Prime Minister's apparent push to cement control over the West Bank came in the wake of what he would consider a diplomatic victory in getting the US to acknowledge Jerusalem as the country's capital as well as Israel's sovereignty claim over the Golan Heights, which was annexed from Syria and has never been internationally recognized.
In recent weeks, Netanyahu has become more strident in speaking about lands seized in the 1967 war, saying territory taken in a defensive war need not be returned.
Israel already controls the West Bank militarily, allowing Palestinians a limited form of autonomy in a few densely populated pockets.
Applying Israeli sovereignty and civil law or annexing territory outright would be fiercely opposed by the nearly three million Palestinians who live in the West Bank as well as much of the Arab world.
"Such a statement by Netanyahu is not surprising. Israel will continue to brazenly violate international law for as long as the international community will continue to reward Israel with impunity," said Saeb Erekat, the Palestine Liberation Organization's Secretary-General.