The army added in a press statement that the closure began at midnight Saturday and will be lifted on midnight Tuesday following another security assessment. The Memorial Day will start on Sunday night and the Independence Day will fall on Tuesday this year according to Jewish calendar.

The army said that following orders of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, thousands of Palestinian workers will be barred from reaching their places of work during the three-day closure.

The Israeli army announced that entry into Israel from the West Bank during Passover will only be permitted in humanitarian cases, passage of humanitarian aid, doctors, medical personnel, lawyers, religious workers and other professional groups need to be authorized by Israeli civil authorities.

The Israeli National Insurance Institute said that 22,867 soldiers and 4,315 civilians have been killed since the establishment of Israel. Since last year's Memorial Day, 183 soldiers have been killed, the institute said.

Israel routinely imposes a general closure upon the Palestinian territory during holidays. On April, Israeli army imposed a nine-day closure on West Bank on the occasion of Passover holiday.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces operating in the West Bank on early Sunday arrested three Palestinians wanted for questioning by Israeli security forces.

Palestinian security sources said that the West Bank-based Hamas spokesman Khaled Al-Haj was arrested in the northern city of Jenin.

Hamas said that Al-Haj was first imprisoned during the first and second intifadas for nearly 11 years. He was again arrested in 2007 and held for three more years "for activity and work in the ranks of the movement."

Hamas added that Al-Haj most recently represented the movement in the Palestinian faction's coordinating committee that led to a reconciliation agreement with the rival Fatah movement last week in Cairo.

In a separate development, the Haifa District Court has ordered the Israeli army to pay a compensation of 430,000 Israeli shekel (US$ 124,600) and legal fees to an owner of a recreational facility in Nablus, for damages that Israeli troops caused it.

The court said that the facility was damaged while it was used by Israeli troops in the beginning of 2003 for storage and lodging. The court ruled that the damage was not done as part of a military operation, which would exempt Israel from liability.