Israel enforces total ban on West Bank travel

Israel today enforced a ‘‘total ban’’ on Palestinian travel in much of the West Bank and sealed off a chunk of the Gaza Strip with tanks in response to Palestinian attacks on Israelis that killed 13 people over 24 hours.

Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said restrictions on Palestinian movement would be tightened further, and that troops would ‘‘maintain a much bigger closure than what we are doing now.’’