Israel

27 Dec 2021; MEMO: Israeli occupation bulldozers demolished on Monday morning 10 Palestinian commercial properties in occupied Jerusalem's neighbourhood of Hizma, Safa news agency reported.

Anti-Israeli settlement activist, Yousef Askar, told Safa that the Israeli occupation forces backed with bulldozers raided Hizma and demolished the shops.

He said that the owners of the shops attempted to take some of their goods out, but they were prevented by the Israeli occupation forces.

26 Dec 2021; MEMO: Three officers in Israel's intelligence service Mossad have committed suicide in one year, according to Israeli media.

Israeli Channel 12 reported that Mossad officer Ayalon Shapira was the first officer to commit suicide on March 26, 2020.

His father cited psychological problems for his son's suicide, saying the Mossad officer used to go to a psychiatrist.

JERUSALEM, Dec 25 (NNN-PNA) – Israel yesterday reported 186 new cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, according to the country’s Health Ministry.

This raised the total Omicron cases in Israel to 527, the ministry said.

It added that, 351 of all the infected are returning passengers from abroad.

The ministry also reported another 1,346 cases with high suspicion of infection with the variant, but the results of their genomic sequencing tests have yet to be obtained.

23 Dec 2021; MEMO: Israeli Immigration and Absorption Ministry announced yesterday that a total of 27,050 new immigrants arrived in Israel in 2021, the Times of Israel reported.

This, the paper said, was a 30 per cent increase compared to last year.

According to the data provided by the ministry, the number included 4,000 immigrants from the United States, stating this is the highest figure since 1973.

23 Dec 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian movement Fatah yesterday described remarks made by Arab Member of the Knesset Mansour Abbas about Israel's Jewish identity as "cheap alignment with the Zionist narrative".

Fatah accused Abbas of "crossing all redlines" and "turning his back on his people and their national cause by throwing himself into the arms of Zionism."

"Mansour Abbas represents only himself, and his fate and the fate of those like him will be in the dustbin of history."

JERUSALEM, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Israel is to offer a fourth dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to people older than 60 or with compromised immune systems, and to health workers, as part of a drive to ramp up the shots and outpace the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

A Health Ministry expert panel - whose findings have yet to be implemented - recommended on Tuesday that those eligible receive the fourth shot at least four months after receiving their third.

JERUSALEM, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met on Wednesday in Jerusalem and discussed Iran and other strategic issues, according to a statement from Bennett's office.

Sullivan told Bennett that the U.S. and Israel are at "a critical juncture for both countries on a major set of security issues" and should develop a joint strategy.

"Israel and the United States stand together," Sullivan said.

21 Dec 2021; MEMO: Three Israeli weapons manufacturers have been indicted for selling arms to China without a permit in what is the latest example of the rogue behaviour of Israeli companies in the defence and security industry. The three were found to have exported cruise missiles to Beijing.

21 Dec 2021; MEMO: Some 2.54 million people in Israel, including 1.118 million children, live in poverty, according to a report released yesterday by the Latet non-profit aid organisation.

Nearly 652,000 families – nearly 25 per cent of households in the country – are living in poverty, the study found.

21 Dec 2021; MEMO: Israel recorded its first known death from the Omicron variant of COVID-19, according to Israeli news media which reported that an elderly man died in Beersheba on Monday, reports Reuters.

The patient died at Soroka Medical Center and had pre-existing conditions, according to the Times of Israel and Ynet news reports on Tuesday.

The two new agencies both said he was over 60 and had received two vaccine doses but not a third booster shot.