Israel

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli troops shot and killed a teenage Palestinian boy as clashes erupted when they entered a volatile town in the occupied West Bank early Saturday, the Palestinian health ministry and local media said.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has intensified overnight raids in the northern West Bank town of Jenin in recent months.

The ministry identified the dead teen as Amjad al-Fayyed, 17. It said an 18-year-old Palestinian was in critical condition after being wounded by Israeli gunfire.

20 May 2022; MEMO: The Israeli Doctors' Union announced on Thursday the start of a comprehensive strike across the healthcare system in protest at the increasing number of cases of violence against medical staff in hospitals and other medical institutions. The relevant authorities, it is alleged, have not addressed and dealt with the issue.

19 May 2022; MEMO: Military Police with the Israel Defence Forces will not open an investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, in Jenin last week, despite her being shot in the head by an army sniper, Haaretz has reported. The Military Police Criminal Investigation Division believes that an investigation that treats Israeli soldiers as suspects will lead to opposition within Israeli society.

20 May 2022; MEMO: Israeli authorities called an early close on Thursday to a religious bonfire festival after dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews rampaged against crowd-control measures meant to prevent a repeat of a crush that killed 45 people last year, Reuters reports.

TV stations showed pilgrims knocking down safety barricades and scuffling with police at the Meron tomb of second-century sage, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, site of annual two-day celebrations that can draw as many as 200,000 people.

18 May 2022; MEMO: The Israeli military is to take part in a large-scale military exercise later this month called "Chariots of Fire", according to an announcement yesterday.

Part of the drill will include an "Iran aerial exercise" which is scheduled to take place in the final week of the month-long drill and will simulate a wide-ranging regional conflict, Israeli officials said.

19 May 2022; MEMO: Some 140 senior Indian journalists have sent a joint letter to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in which they condemned the Israeli army's targeting of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

19 May 2022; MEMO: A recent poll conducted by research group Israeli Congress, which studies Israeli society, has found that mistrust and hostility between Arabs and Jews in Israel is increasing, the Jerusalem Post has reported.

JERUSALEM, May 18 (Reuters) - Israel police have arrested one of the Palestinian pallbearers beaten by officers at the funeral of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, the detained man's lawyer said on Wednesday.

A police spokesperson confirmed the arrest of Amro Abu Khdair but said it was not connected to Friday's funeral. He declined to give the reason for the man's arrest.

17 May 2022; MEMO: Israel is considering the routine use of air power against the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. This is one of the possibilities arising from a revamp of Israeli strategy for control and domination of the occupied territory using helicopters and drones. The proposal has been suggested by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and suggests that the apartheid state is mulling over the idea of taking major battlefield strategies into Palestinian territory.

16 May 2022; MEMO: Israel is boosting offshore natural gas output and aims to reach a supply agreement with Europe in the coming months as the continent looks to replace Russian supply, Reuters reports.

The country is on track in the next few years to double production to about 40 billion cubic metres (bcm) from about 20 bcm as it expands current projects and brings new fields online, industry officials say.