Israel

05 Aug 2021; MEMO: Israeli officials have asked the US administration of President Joe Biden to put pressure on the Palestinian families of Sheikh Jarrah to accept the court's proposal that they pay rent to settler organisations in return for becoming 'protected tenants', Haaretz reported yesterday.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel on Thursday escalated its response to rocket attacks this week by launching rare airstrikes on Lebanon, the army and Lebanese officials said.

The Israeli army said in a statement that jets struck the launch sites from which rockets had been fired over the previous day, as well as an additional target used to attack Israel in the past. The IDF blamed the state of Lebanon for the shelling and warned “against further attempts to harm Israeli civilians and Israel’s sovereignty.”

JERUSALEM, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Two rockets launched from Lebanon on Wednesday struck Israel, which responded with artillery fire, amid heightened regional tensions over an alleged Iranian attack on an oil tanker in the Gulf last week.

Israel's Magen David Adom national ambulance service said there were no casualties on the Israeli side of the hilly frontier, where the rockets ignited a brush fire.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket strike, launched from an area of south Lebanon under the sway of Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas.

04 Aug 2021; MEMO: Israeli authorities have added the US and 17 others countries to its severe travel warning list; with travelers from these locations needing to quarantine for at least seven days.

04 Aug 2021; MEMO: Israel is prepared for "any scenario" with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, including a ceasefire or military escalation, Defence Minister Benny Gantz said yesterday.

"Today I visited the [Israeli army's] Gaza Division and assessed the [security] situation," Gantz said on Twitter, adding that "Israel is ready for any scenario, whether settlement or [military] escalation."

JERUSALEM, Aug 3 (NNN-PNN) – Israeli Defence Minister, Benny Gantz, said yesterday that, Iran has been stepping up its aggression in the Middle East and called for “action against Iran” over its alleged attack on an Israeli oil tanker last week.

In a speech during a plenum session of the Knesset (parliament), Gantz addressed the deadly drone attack on an oil tanker, off the coast of Oman, last week.

Iran denied any involvement in the attack on the Israeli-managed ship, but security officials in Israel, Britain and the United States estimated Iran is behind the assault.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Cabinet advanced a national budget on Monday for the first time since 2018 in a sign of stability for the country’s fragile new government.

The 120-member Knesset must still approve the two-year spending plan by November to avoid dissolving the government and new elections.

JERUSALEM, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Israel's cabinet started on Sunday to debate the state budget, after no budget has been approved for more than three years amid a political deadlock.

"After three years in which Israel has been working without a budget, the most basic tool for running a country, we are now submitting for cabinet approval the 2021-2022 budget," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said at the beginning of a weekly cabinet meeting.

According to Bennett, the budget includes investments in public transportation, internet infrastructure and technology, and education.

01 Aug 2021; MEMO: The US Navy is assisting an Israeli-managed petroleum products tanker attacked off Oman with two crew members killed, the US military said on Saturday, adding the ship was most likely hit by a drone strike, reports Reuters.

31 July 2021; MEMO: Israeli officials have blamed Iran for the attack on a tanker owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer, Israeli media and AP reported on Friday.

The Times of Israel also reported that the US shares Israel's belief that Iran is allegedly responsible for the attack on the ship, which took place off Omani coasts on Thursday.