JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinians fired at Israeli soldiers at an army post located on a highway that recently was ordered to reopen to Palestinian traffic.
There were no injuries in Tuesday night’s automatic rifle attack near the West Bank city of Ramallah, which reportedly came from a car that fled to a nearby Palestinian village.
Highway 443, which was built in the 1980s, was closed to Palestinian traffic in October 2000 after the launching of the second Palestinian intifada.
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled last December that the road must open to Palestinian traffic. The court agreed with a petition filed by Palestinians living in six towns and villages along the route of Highway 443, which connects Jerusalem with Modiin and several Jewish towns in the West Bank, and is a popular alternative route for travel between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
"This is an advertisement for what will happen if the court decision is implemented," lawmaker Michael Ben Ari of the National Union Party said. "The judges must understand that first of all they have to concern themselves with the security of Israeli citizens, and not freedom of movement for those who take advantage of it."
