Israel makes arrests, shuts Palestinian territories for holiday

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel has arrested 19 people and temporarily closed the Palestinian territories as it prepares for the last commemorations of a month of Jewish holiday, authorities said Sunday.

Palestinians will be barred from entering from the West Bank and Gaza Strip as the Sukkot festival wraps up with the Simchat Torah holiday, which begins at sundown Sunday and ends the next evening.

The closure, a frequent measure for major Jewish holidays, will remain in place throughout Sunday and Monday, with only emergency cases allowed through, the Israeli army said.

Israeli forces also announced they had arrested 19 Palestinians in various areas of occupied East Jerusalem in connection with
recent confrontations with Israeli forces.

Israeli forces said the confrontations took place over the Yom Kippur holiday earlier in October and the arrests were "based on intelligence and operations".
The week-long Sukkot festival is the last of three successive Jewish holidays that have led to tensions with the Palestinians in the past.
Earlier in October, Jews marked Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, or New Year.