The official reason for the clampdown given by the idf was a spate of shootings and stabbings in recent weeks, in the West Bank and in Tel Aviv, and explosive devices hidden on the roads which killed and wounded Israeli civilians and troops.

Dozens of people were killed or wounded after an outbreak of violence in the West Bank that Israeli military officials called a counterterrorism operation.

In the days since a fragile ceasefire took hold in the Gaza Strip, Israel has launched a major military operation in the occupied West Bank and suspected Jewish settlers have rampaged through two Palestinian towns.