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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities have decided to open a gate along the separation wall north of Jerusalem for the first time in seven years, an Israeli official said on Monday.

The Israeli Civil Administration deputy in Jerusalem, Rami Barakat, said in a statement that the Dahiyat al-Barid gate north of the village of al-Ram would be opened daily between 3 and 5 p.m. for people to cross from al-Ram into Jerusalem.

Barakat added that some 100,000 Palestinian holders of Israeli-issued Jerusalem IDs would be able to cross into al-Ram and the Kafr Aqab area through the gate, which would decrease the traffic at the notorious Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah, where a 23-year-old pregnant Palestinian woman and her 16-year-old brother were killed on Wednesday.

Barakat said that the opening hours for the gate could be extended if the security situation remained calm.

More than 200 Palestinians and almost 30 Israelis have been killed since the beginning of a wave of violence in October, characterized by a number of small-scale Palestinian attacks and alleged attacks against Israeli military targets.

The number of Palestinian and Israeli deaths saw a dramatic drop over the last two months, with the Israeli leadership suggesting its severe security measures are responsible for the emerging trend.

However, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found in a poll last month that support for stabbing attacks had seen a decline in the West Bank in recent months -- "due, it seems, to a rising perception in its inefficacy."

According to the al-Zaytouna Center for Studies and Consultations, the Dahiyat al-Barid gate has been closed since 2009, effectively shutting off Dahiyat al-Barid and al-Ram residents from the rest of occupied East Jerusalem.

The construction of the Israeli separation wall around East Jerusalem has been denounced by Palestinians as an attempt to isolate Palestinian communities in the area and to jeopardize the Jerusalem residency status of locals whose villages end up behind the wall.