Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai raised the terror alert on Saturday morning to its highest level after two terrorist attacks that took place in Jerusalem within a 24-hour period this weekend.
Due to the heightened alert, police officers began working 12-hour shifts effective immediately.
“The Israel Police asks the public to report any suspicious person or object to the police hotline 100 in real time,” Shabtai said in his statement.
Thus far, 42 people have been arrested in connection with the attacks that took place over the Sabbath in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Neve Yaakov and in the City of David.
IDF Beefs Up Forces
In addition, the Israel Defense Forces announced that forces in the Judea and Samaria division are being increased in the wake of the attacks.
The military has added three additional battalions — the 101st Paratroopers Battalion, the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Battalion, and the 17th battalion from the School for Infantry Corps Professions and Squad Commanders — to its forces in the region following a security assessment by top officers.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi ordered the reinforcement as preparation for a possible escalation, that appears to be in process in response to an IDF raid in the terrorist hotbed city of Jenin. The arrest operation carried out against a terrorist cell in the city left nine dead. Most were armed terrorists and members of the targeted cell, but it is believed that at least one civilian was killed as well.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the security cabinet Saturday night and urged Israelis “not to take the law into their own hands.”
Netanyahu emphasized, “For that, we have an army and police who receive instructions from the cabinet.”
