Easing of Restrictions on the Palestinian population during month of "Ramadan"

In light of the "Ramadan" holiday during the month of October and as part of the efforts being made to allow the Palestinian population as much normalcy in their daily lives and the freedom to observe religious rituals, the IDF will ease restrictions on the general closure of Judea and Samaria. The measures to be taken in Judea and Samaria are:

* Authorization for 4,000 worshipers aged 45 and upwards to visit the temple mount on every Friday of the "Ramadan" holiday, starting October 7th 2005, without the need for permits (the only condition being a full security check at the seam line crossings and different checkpoints).
* Authorization for 450 Muslim clergymen to enter east Jerusalem and 100 additional Muslim clergymen to enter Israel.
* Authorization for 150 Christian teachers and 400 Muslim teachers to enter east Jerusalem.
* Authorization for 150 Waqff employees from Judea and Samaria to enter the temple mount
* Authorization for approximately 100 senior merchants to enter Israel.
* Authorization for 2,000 workers to enter Israel in order to participate in the olive harvest.

The IDF recognizes the sensitivity of the "Ramadan" period and will make the utmost effort to act accordingly with the Palestinian population as they observe this holiday while maintaining complete and thorough security checks in the seam line security crossings and checkpoints. These measures taken to ease restrictions come in addition to the reopening of the Karni crossing yesterday, allowing for the passage of goods in and out of the Gaza Strip.