Two Palestinians who tried to infiltrate Israel in the Jerusalem area through the same breach in the security fence that the Ramot terrorists used only days ago were shot and moderately wounded by police officers.

However, Ynet carried out an investigation of the security fence near Jerusalem on Wednesday, only two days after the attack, and reported that the breaches were still wide open and security forces were nowhere to be seen in the area. Only one police car passed by on the road in the course of an hour.

According to the report, most Palestinians who cross the fence in the Jerusalem area are seeking work, but the Ramot terrorists were not the first to take advantage of the breaches to carry out terror attacks in the city.

Meanwhile, Israel’s security bodies are pointing fingers at each other regarding the monitoring of the security fence. Following the attack, the IDF stated that Jerusalem Police are responsible for guarding the fence. But the police issued a statement on Wednesday emphasizing that guarding the fence is a national mission of all security bodies on both sides of the fence and activity by relevant entities is required to prevent the exit of illegal aliens from the Palestinian Authority.

The police added that they have warned about the condition of the fence for over a year, but nothing has been done. Over 11,000 illegal Palestinians have been arrested since the beginning of the year, the statement said.

“Every illegal alien who enters is a potential for an attack,” a resident of the Jerusalem area said. “It is unfortunate that they only act to close the breaches after six Jews are slaughtered in an attack. Our lives are not expendable. The time has come for security officials to end the infiltration of illegal Palestinians.”

According to Ynet, the fact that the terrorists infiltrated through breaches in the seam line so smoothly keeps IDF officials awake at night, and the security establishment fears a wave of copycat attacks by lone terrorists, chalilah.

After the October 7 massacre, Israel banned the entry of Palestinian workers into Israel…with exceptions. There are about 8,000 Palestinians whose work is deemed essential who are legally allowed to enter Israel. There are also about 15,000 Palestinians who work on yishuvim in Yehudah and Shomron (where each yishuv sets its own policy on the entry of Palestinian workers).

Additionally, security officials estimate that at any given time there are about 50,000 illegal Palestinian workers in Israel.

A former security official told Ynet that on one hand, if Israel were to approve the entry of Palestinian workers, it would help the system to monitor them. “It is clear that if Israel wanted to hermetically close all the breaches, it would happen, but it doesn’t, and for years upon years, illegal aliens have entered,” he said.

He hinted that security officials may turn a blind eye to the issue since the Palestinian workers are good for Israel’s economy as well as the stability of the PA, but “they wake up only when there is an attack.”

“It is clear that now, after the attack, they are not thinking at all about letting workers in, but if they want to close the fence, then they should close it hermetically, all the way,” he asserted.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)