Authorities rescue Israeli shoppers, seize illegal monkey from residence in Jericho, West Bank

Israeli citizens are strictly prohibited from entering Area A; police emphasized in their statement following the event that entering Area A is "extremely dangerous and can be life-threatening."

Two Jerusalem residents, along with their one-year-old son, entered Jericho, a city in Area A of the West Bank, on Tuesday, and had to be rescued by Israeli security forces, Israel Police said. 

Police suspect the family entered the city to go shopping.

Israeli citizens are strictly prohibited from entering Area A; police emphasized in their statement following the event that entering Area A is "extremely dangerous and can be life-threatening."

Last month, police reported multiple instances of Israelis entering Area A, both intentionally and unwittingly.

IDF troops and Border Police officers rescued ten Israeli civilians who intentionally entered Kalkilya in Area A of the West Bank on July 6.

According to a police statement regarding the incident, the Israelis entered the city in an attempt to locate a motorcycle that had been stolen from the settlement of Elad the day before.

Later the same week, Border Police rescued an Israeli citizen on Thursday who accidentally entered the village of A-Ram, just north of Jerusalem, in Area A.

Authorities rescue captive primate in Jericho home, surrender it to the Israeli Primate Sanctuary

Also in Jericho, Israeli security forces, alongside the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), rescued a grivet monkey from illegal captivity in a Jericho home on Monday night, police confirmed on Tuesday morning.

Authorities searched the home after "suspicions arose that a monkey was being kept there," police said.

During the search, security forces found the monkey in a cage. They promptly seized it and transferred it into the care of the INPA, which brought it to the Israeli Primate Sanctuary in the Ben Shemen Forest.

The suspect, a woman from Ramle in her 30s, was arrested and questioned, then released subject to restrictions, and is expected to be brought in for further questioning. She is suspected of committing offenses involving the trade, hunting, and illegal possession of a protected wild animal.

Grivet monkeys are native to northeastern Africa, just above the Horn, in and around Ethiopia. While they are not considered an endangered species, they are an exotic animal, and it is illegal to own one as a pet in Israel.