Israel

JERUSALEM, May 29 (Reuters) - Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) said on Monday it was building Israel's most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer to meet soaring customer demand for AI applications.

Nvidia, the world's most valuable listed chip company, said the cloud-based system would cost hundreds of millions of dollars and be partly operational by the end of 2023.

Gilad Shainer, a senior vice president at Nvidia, said Nvidia worked with 800 startups in Israel and tens of thousands of software engineers.

28 May 2023; MEMO: Ten European countries have called on Israel to halt its policy of home demolitions and confiscation of Palestinian properties in the occupied West Bank, reports Anadolu Agency.

The call came in a joint statement issued by the consulates general of Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the UK, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland and the Office of the European Union Representative to the West Bank and Gaza.

26 May 2023; MEMO: The authorities across Israel's universities have condemned a bill that would ban flying the flag of Palestine anywhere in Israel, including in academic institutions, reported The Times of Israel.

25 May 2023; MEMO: A new bill is being proposed which will grant Israel powers to extend its crackdown on human rights groups. The Ministerial Committee on Legislation will put forward a plan on Sunday to impose a tax on 65 per cent of foreign donations to Israeli and Palestinian humanitarian and human rights groups.

JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian man was shot and killed on Friday after infiltrating a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army said.

In a statement, the military said the man tried to stab a resident in the Tene Omarim settlement and was shot by an armed civilian. It said the infiltration had set off an alarm and soldiers were scanning the area.

The Palestinian Health ministry confirmed the death but gave no further details.

25 May 2023; MEMO: The Israeli Knesset yesterday approved the new state budget for the next two years which includes investing 3.5 billion shekels ($941 million) into expanding Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.

According to the Times of Israel, the majority of the funds will go towards paving new roads and improving existing ones, including highways to bypass Palestinian areas that further segregate Israeli settlers and Palestinians.

25 May 2023; MEMO: Israel shot down a drone that had crossed over from Lebanon on Thursday, its military said in a statement, Reuters reports.

"A short while ago, IDF (Israel Defence Forces) soldiers identified and downed a drone crossing from Lebanese territory into Israeli territory towards the town of Zar'it," the military said.

25 May 2023; MEMO: An Iranian official on Tuesday warned Israel against attacking Tehran's nuclear facilities, noting such a move would lead to a war.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, the Iranian official said: "We do not seek war, but the world must understand we have lines, that there are no red lines when it comes to our response to Israel."

23 May 2023; MEMO: Extremist Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, will struggle to arrange meetings with senior French officials during his planned visit to Paris next month, Israeli media has warned, saying this is a result of his denial of the existence of the Palestinian people during his visit to Paris two months ago.

22 May 2023; MEMO: Israel is becoming a Third World economy, over 200 leading Israeli economists warned yesterday in response to the national budget announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition.