IDF inquiry: Palestinian workers prevented attack at Erez

Palestinian workers waiting at the Erez crossing in the Gaza Strip to enter Israel beat and overpowered two Palestinians planning to carry out a terror attack at the site, an inquiry conducted recently by the Defense Ministry's Coordination and Liaison Administration in the territories has revealed.

The inquiries, conducted with the help of Palestinian officials, indicate that a few days after the suicide attack at the Erez crossing on January 14, Palestinian workers waiting to enter Israel noticed two Palestinian youths carrying weapons under their clothing trying to get into the area. The workers confronted them, overpowered them, beat them and then handed them over to policemen from the Palestinian Authority's National Security mechanism, which is in charge of the Palestinian side of the crossing.

It is unclear what happened to the two youths after they were handed over to the Palestinian security authorities, but the incident is evidence of much anger among the Palestinian workers toward activists from the terror groups that have repeatedly tried in recent months to carry out attacks at the crossing.

The military wings of the Palestinian organizations tend to carry out joint attacks at Erez so as to moderate criticism from the workers and their families in the event that Israel closes off the crossing.

Under normal circumstances, some 5,000-10,000 Palestinians enter Israel for work each day. Of this number, some 3,000 sleep over in Israel.

"Despite the difficulties, the Israel Defense Forces tries to preserve continuity in the employment of Palestinians within Israel, and already now we have returned to a rate of entry similar to that before the attempted attack at the weekend," said the head of the Coordination and Liaison Administration in the Gaza Strip, Colonel Yoav Mordechai.