BNEI BRAK, Israel – Israel put up roadblocks on Friday to seal off an ultra-Orthodox Jewish town badly affected by the coronavirus but ordered in soldiers to support the residents.
Emergency regulations approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet late on Thursday declared Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, a “restricted zone” due to its high rate of infections. The new designation allows authorities to tighten curbs on public movement.
Police units, wearing surgical masks and gloves, moved swiftly early on Friday to cordon off major intersections around the town and enforce the new rules.
“Bnei Brak is on lockdown, as of this morning and police will prevent any movements in or out of the city,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. “People are only allowed in or out for medical reasons or medical support.”
Israeli border policewmen chat with local residents at the entrance to Bnei Brak as Israel enforces a lockdown of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish town.ReutersNetanyahu’s office later said the military would help the town council provide services to citizens, but not help to enforce the closure. The army said it would provide food, medicine and any other assistance that was needed.
Israel has confirmed at least 38 deaths linked to the coronavirus and over 7,000 infections – but medical experts estimate that as many as 38 percent of Bnei Brak’s 200,000 residents are infected.
Bnei Brak’s population, many of them choosing study of scripture and traditional large families over a more worldly lifestyle, often live in very close proximity to one another in impoverished neighborhoods. Some have heeded rabbis who, out of distrust for the state, spurned anti-virus measures.
An Israeli police officer wearing protective gear detains an ultra-Orthodox man after he prayed in a synagogue in defiance of government measures to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, in Bnei Brak.APWith the elderly especially vulnerable to the illness, the military plans to evacuate 4,500 people aged 80 and above and place them in isolation in requisitioned hostels.
Since Tuesday, some 600 soldiers have been supporting police across Israel in enforcing strict stay-at-home orders, which have forced many businesses to close and sent unemployment over 24 percent.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday night extended a state of emergency for a second month, to early May.
Israeli border police officers question an Ultra orthodox man in Bnei Brak.APThe renewed measures meant schools would remain closed, movement between cities would remain prohibited and citizens would continue to be required to mostly stay at home, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said in a speech on Friday.
Palestinians there have reported one death and 181 cases of COVID-19, with 12 additional cases in the Gaza Strip.
