The breach is still open: the closure of the land borders has been postponed to 17:00 | Israel today

Although a decision was made to close the crossings at 06:00, for adjustments in the order they will be closed only in the afternoon • Hundreds of people entered Israel yesterday through these crossings • Ben Gurion Airport is hermetically closed as early as midnight between Monday and Tuesday • Farsa: Many will not be able to ascend

• Allenby Pass (Archive)

  Photography: 

  Oren Ben Hakon

At the beginning of the week, it was decided to close Ben Gurion Airport (closed between Monday and Tuesday), but the decision-makers left the land border crossings open as published in "Israel Today", which allowed hundreds to enter Israel yesterday (Wednesday).

The government understood that the breach would allow entry into the country and decided to close the land border crossings as well, but the decision to close the crossings from six in the morning was rejected.

This morning, the Population Authority announced that the closures will be closed only at 17:00 and not at 06:00 in the morning, as was decided yesterday.

The decision is probably due to the aim of making adjustments to close the crossings in a uniform manner.

The order was signed by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and if there are no last-minute changes, the mainland entrance gates to Israel will also be closed this afternoon.

An inspection we conducted shows that 721 people entered Israel yesterday, of whom 601 were Israeli citizens and 120 foreign nationals, all of whom received special permits, according to Interior Ministry officials.

Of those 721 entrants, 510 entered the overland crossings, the vast majority of them Israelis and among them quite a few who took advantage of the loophole and entered the country without any problem.

Israir will operate rescue flights

Currently, there are thousands of Israelis who are in different countries and are looking for a way to return to Israel.

Many of these Israelis are in Dubai, there are quite a few in the United States, Turkey, Seychelles and other countries. 

Tonight there will be an Israir flight to Frankfurt with passengers who will receive a special permit to leave the country.

The same plane will bring back Israelis who will receive a permit to return to Israel from different countries, the vast majority of whom will be those who come from Europe. 

The decision to operate a rescue flight with less than 24 hours' notice does not allow Israelis in Dubai, the US, Seychelles and even destinations closer to Germany, apply for approval from the Exceptions Committee, perform a corona check that is mandatory for entry into Israel and catch a flight to Germany in such a short time.

As we published yesterday, there are quite a few difficult stories following the decision to close the airport.

In Austria there are cancer patients who are stuck and can not return to Israel to continue the treatments, in Israel there are patients who have to fly abroad to receive special treatments and in the US and other countries there are quite a few children who are stuck without their parents abroad and try to return.

Yesterday we published the story of the couple who flew for a short vacation and left a four-month-old baby in the country, in a planned and orderly manner.

The couple got stuck in Dubai and it is now unclear when they will be able to reunite with their toddler daughter.