Lieut. Gen. Ehud Barak, the army Chief of Staff, suggested that the territorial closing could last a long time.

He vowed to fight Hamas on all fronts, through intelligence, territorial closings and the choking off of its foreign funds.

Among Israelis, the territorial closing has been highly popular, for the number of killings quickly plummeted almost to zero and stayed there.

Gradually, the territorial closing has been eased to allow thousands of Arab workers to reach jobs.

Economic Distress Grows The territorial closing seems to be popular among Israelis, except perhaps among farmers and contractors who grew addicted to cheap Arab labor.

Apparently, the territorial closing was coordinated with the Palestinians, for blue-uniformed police officers established roadblocks this afternoon for the first time not far from where the soldiers were killed.

Of the possible measures that the Government might have taken in its new crackdown, the territorial closings were the most predictable.

Although the territorial closings were not a surprise, Palestinians were outraged, denouncing them as collective punishment.

On Sunday, it extended this territorial closing for at least another week, prompting new denunciations today from the P.L.O., which calls it collective punishment.

A new poll suggests that Israelis overwhelmingly want the territorial closing to last.