- Title: ISRAEL: Israel halts mail deliveries after letter bomb is found
- Date: 23rd February 2010
- Summary: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (FEBRUARY 22, 2010) (REUTERS) POST OFFICE SIGN READING IN HEBREW 'ISRAELI POST' MAN STANDING IN FRONT OF COUNTER POST OFFICE WORKER TALKING SIGN READING IN HEBREW: 'TO OUR CLIENTS: AT THE MOMENT, MAIL WILL NOT BE DELIVERED, SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE' REUVEN VITALE, WHO CAME TO COLLECT HIS MAIL, GOING OUT OF POST OFFICE SIGNS ON POST OFFICE COUNTER
- Embargoed: 10th March 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Israel
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVACIHY5CI8OUVWB6VKCMZ7GXI8Q
- Story Text: Israel suspends postal deliveries nationwide Monday after a letter bomb is found in a post office.
Israel suspended postal deliveries across the country on Monday (February 22) after a letter bomb was found in a northern town's post office, police and postal authorities said.
The motive behind the mailing of the explosives was not immediately clear, a police spokesman said, and a court imposed a gagging order in the investigation.
The letter bomb was found in a post office in the northern town of Migdal Haemek, where a woman spotted wires and batteries in an envelope she had come to collect.
A police spokesman said police were investigating whether the incident was an act of terrorism or a local criminal event. Israelis were targeted frequently by letter-bombs blamed on or claimed by Palestinian militants in the 1970s and 1980s.
After the discovery, Israeli authorities took the rare step of stopping the mail service nationwide pending a thorough search of mail at the country's main postal distribution centres where they are sorted for delivery, postal officials said.
In the coastal city of Tel Aviv, people were unable to collect their mail at a local post office.
"They have to check everything in the central post. And they have the methods how to check it," said Reuven Vitale, a resident who had tried to collect his mail. He added that he thought the inconvenience would not last more than a day.
Avi Hochman, director of the Israel Postal Services told Israeli Army Radio the postal service was not collecting or distributing any mail in the interest of public safety. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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