JERUSALEM: Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari announced on Saturday that the government has decided to close schools across the country due to security concerns after Iran threatened to retaliate for a deadly airstrike on its consulate in Damascus.
In a televised statement, he said there would be “no educational activities” at the start of the school week on Sunday “due to the security situation”.
He said from tomorrow morning, there will be no educational facilities, no day camp, and no planned trips for a few days.
Israel will also limit the number of people allowed to gather outdoors to 1,000, even fewer in border areas, where beaches will be closed.
Weekly demonstrations against the government and in support of the hostage exchange regularly draw thousands of demonstrators in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
According to the army’s online instructions, the measures are expected to continue for two days.
Iran has vowed to retaliate after Israeli attack on April 1 that destroyed the country’s consulate in Damascus and killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two generals.
US President Joe Biden said on Friday that he expected Iran to retaliate “sooner rather than later”.
Iranian state media reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps seized a container ship “affiliated to the Zionist regime (Israel)” near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday morning.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz postponed his trip to Hungary and Austria, scheduled for Sunday, “due to the security situation,” an Israeli spokesman said.
