Israel

28 May 2021; MEMO: The Israeli Magistrate's Court in Nazareth yesterday indicted Sheikh Kamal Al-Khatib, the deputy chairman of the Islamic Movement in Israel and a member of the Arab Follow-Up Committee, and extended his detention until Sunday.

The public prosecution filed charges against Sheikh Al-Khatib accusing him of "incitement to terrorism, violence, and identifying with a terrorist organisation" in reference to the Islamic Movement which was outlawed by Israel in 2015.

27 May 2021; MEMO: The High Follow up Committee for Arabs in Israel called on Wednesday for an end to the government's detention campaign which, it is claimed, is intended to silence them. The committee also demanded the cancellation of indictments against all activists who took part in legitimate political actions, Rai Al-Youm has reported.

(Reuters) --- Israel will release next week its findings on heart inflammation cases in COVID-19 vaccine recipients and then decide whether to approve inoculations of youngsters aged 12-15, a senior health official said on Thursday.

Israel's Health Ministry said in April it was examining a small number of such cases among people who received Pfizer/BioNtech's PFE.N COVID-19 vaccine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) made a similar statement earlier this month.

25 May 2021; MEMO: A former prime minister of Israel believes that there are two winners of the latest conflict in which Hamas has instilled fear and insecurity in the hearts of many Israelis. Ehud Olmert has said that it is time to move forward and prevent the next round of rocket attacks that could also reach northern Israel.

Jerusalem, May 25 (AP-PTI) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Israel at the start of a Middle East tour aimed at shoring up the Gaza cease-fire.

He will face the same obstacles that have stifled a wider peace process for more than a decade, including a hawkish Israeli leadership, Palestinian divisions and deeply rooted tensions surrounding Jerusalem and its holy sites.

JERUSALEM (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed Tuesday to “rally international support” to aid Gaza following a devastating war, as he began a regional tour to shore up last week’s cease-fire.

Blinken, who spoke after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the U.S. would work to address the “grave humanitarian situation” in the coastal territory but would also ensure that Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers do not benefit from reconstruction assistance.

24 May 2021; MEMO: Israeli Settlement Minister Tzachi Hanegbi has said that Israel will carry out preemptive strikes on Hamas, the Times of Israel reported.

Hanegbi, who is a senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Channel 13 that Israel will stop waiting for Hamas to restock its rocket arsenal.

24 May 2021; MEMO: An Israeli security source revealed yesterday that occupation forces have left the Karm Abu Salem and Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossings closed as part of a new policy on dealing with the Gaza Strip, news agencies reported.

The Israeli security source reported that the two crossings would remain closed until further notice, pointing out that occupation authorities have been blocking the entry of any food or other commercial goods to Gaza.

24 May 2021; MEMO: Israeli warplanes destroyed the Gaza Strip during their latest aggression on the besieged enclave, but they failed to stop Hamas' rockets, Anadolu news agency reported Israeli army Ombudsman, Major- General Yitzhak Brick, saying yesterday.

In an interview with the Israeli Army Radio, Brick said: "The theory that wars can be won only by warplanes has completely collapsed."

(Reuters) --- A Palestinian stabbed and wounded two Israelis, one of them a soldier, on Monday near a flashpoint area of East Jerusalem that has been the focus of Palestinian protests, medics said, and police said officers shot the assailant.

The Palestinian health ministry said it was "looking into the condition of a citizen who was shot in Jerusalem". Video on social media appeared to show the knifeman lying motionless and covered with a sheet on the ground at a street intersection.