Israel

21 Dec 2021; MEMO: Israel's Defence Minister said on Monday that the occupation state is going to increase both covert and overt action against Iran, local media have reported. Benny Gantz made the comment to the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee and urged world powers to take a harder negotiating stance against Tehran.

21 Dec 2021; MEMO: Israel was involved in the assassination of Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, the former head of Israel's military intelligence said yesterday.

Soleimani, who was considered the mastermind of the pro-Iran proxies in the region, was killed in an American drone strike near the Iraqi capital Baghdad in January 2020.

JERUSALEM, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli Health Ministry on Monday reported 1,004 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its tally of infections to 1,356,194.

This is the first time in two months that the number of new cases in Israel has exceeded 1,000, after 1,035 daily cases reported on Oct. 20.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned on Sunday the Omicron COVID-19 variant has caused the fifth wave of the pandemic, following the recent sharp rise in COVID-19 morbidity in the country.

20 Dec 2021; MEMO: Israel has released new rules of engagement which allow soldiers to open fire at Palestinians who throw stones and flee, local media reported yesterday.

According to Israeli Public Broadcaster, Kan, the new rules give occupation forces the right to shoot Palestinian stone throwers even as they are fleeing.

Meanwhile, the rules also allow Israeli occupation soldiers to fire at Palestinians stealing live ammunition and weaponry, Walla news website reported.

JERUSALEM, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Ministry of Health on Sunday said it decided to ban travel to ten more countries to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.

The ban will take effect on Wednesday and will include the United States, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Morocco, Portugal, Canada, Switzerland and Turkey, which will be labeled as "red" countries, according to the ministry.

The list of "red" countries already includes most of the African countries, eight European countries and the United Arab Emirates.

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said Sunday that its forces apprehended four Palestinian suspects believed to have taken part in a deadly shooting in the occupied West Bank.

In Thursday’s incident, at least one Palestinian gunman opened fire on a car filled with Jewish seminary students next to a West Bank settlement outpost. Yehuda Dimentman, 25, was killed and two others were wounded near Homesh, which is considered illegal by the Israeli government.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s prime minister warned citizens against the spread of the new, highly infectious variant of coronavirus on Sunday and urged them to vaccinate.

Naftali Bennett told ministers that there was already community transmission of the omicron variant in Israel and a rise in the country’s coronavirus infection rate. He called the omicron variant “very infectious.”

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli government on Wednesday said it was donating 1 million coronavirus vaccines to the U.N.-backed COVAX program.

The Foreign Ministry said the AstraZeneca vaccines would be transferred in the coming weeks, a decision that was part of Israel’s strengthening ties with the African countries.

“I am delighted that Israel can contribute and be a partner in eradicating the pandemic around the world,” said Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.

14 Dec 2021; MEMO: Former Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, tried to back out of declaring a normalisation deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one day before it was announced, according to a new book, Anadolu News Agency reports.

15 Dec 2021; MEMO: Several Israeli officials have claimed that the Biden administration in Washington is "obsessed" about illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank on a par with Iran's nuclear programme, the Jerusalem Post reported on Tuesday. "The Americans bring up 'settler violence' all the time, obsessively," said one diplomat.