Israel

JERUSALEM (AP) — The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor on Wednesday launched an investigation into alleged crimes in the Palestinian territories, turning the tribunal’s focus toward Israeli military actions and settlement construction on lands captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

03 Mar 2021; MEMO: Around 1,800 former Israeli security and Mossad officials have written to US President Joe Biden calling on him not to rejoin the nuclear deal with Iran, Israeli i24 TV reported on Monday. The signatories of the letter are apparently concerned that the US will rejoin the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), from which Donald Trump withdrew his country in 2018.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran on Monday for an explosion aboard an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman last week, an accusation rejected by Tehran.

The vehicle-carrier MV Helios Ray was hit between Thursday night and Friday morning by a blast above the water line that a U.S official said ripped holes in both sides of its hull. An Israeli official said limpet mines were used.

“This was indeed an operation by Iran. That is clear,” Netanyahu told Kan radio.

01 Mar 2021; MEMO: Israel on Sunday broadened its search for the ship behind an oil spill that blackened its beaches with tar after investigators ruled out one of the suspected tankers, reports Reuters.

28 Feb 2021; MEMO: Israeli defence minister Benny Gantz said on Saturday his "initial assessment" was that Iran was responsible for an explosion on an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman, reported Reuters.

27 Feb 2021; MEMO: The Israeli District Court of Beersheba on Friday indicted an Israeli-Arab citizen for allegedly collaborating with the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas, Israeli media reported.

The man was identified as Mohammad Abu Adra, 43, who was arrested on 3 February following Israeli police and Shin Bet investigations, The Times of Israel divulged.

26 Feb 2021; MEMO: Israel today banned the raising of the Muslim call to prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied Hebron under the pretext that settlers were celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the ban was "a call for religious war" and went on to urge the international community and the relevant UN organisations and councils to assume their legal and moral responsibilities in protecting holy sites.

25 Feb 2021; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged US President Joe Biden to maintain the sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) imposed by former President Donald Trump.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial plan to ship surplus coronavirus vaccines to a group of allied nations was frozen Thursday following a legal challenge to the deal, his office announced.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahrain’s Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa on Thursday discussed Iran and the possible involvement of the Gulf state in establishing a vaccine plant in Israel, the two countries said.

Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates formalised ties with Israel on Sept. 15 in part over shared concerns about Iran, in a deal forged by former U.S. President Donald Trump.