Israel

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli district court on Monday convicted a Jewish extremist of murder in a 2015 arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents, a case that had sent shock waves through Israel and helped fuel months of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

18 May 2020; MEMO: An Israeli Jewish settler has this morning been found guilty of the fatal arson attack that killed a Palestinian couple and their baby and left their four-year-old son scarred for life.

The arson attack that took place in July 2015 saw Israeli settler Amiram Ben-Uliel set fire to the Dawabsheh family home in the occupied West Bank village of Duma.

18 May 2020; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented his new unity government to parliament on Sunday, ending more than a year of political deadlock but still facing a trial starting in a week for alleged corruption, Reuters reports.

BEIRUT, May 18 (NNN-NNA) – An Israeli patrol opened fire, on Sunday, in southeastern Lebanon, along the border line, injuring a Syrian shepherd, and then kidnapped him to one of its locations, in the occupied Shebaa Farms.

A Lebanese military source and citizens from the border town of Kfarchouba, said that, Israeli soldiers opened fire towards Mohamed Nour El-Din Abdel-Azim, while he was grazing a herd of cattle near the Shebaa Farms.

17 May 2020; MEMO: China’s ambassador to Israel was found dead in his home in a Tel Aviv suburb on Sunday, an Israeli police spokesman said, Reuters reports.

He did not comment on the cause of death of ambassador Du Wei, who was 57 years old and became ambassador to Israel in February, according to the embassy’s website.

“As part of the regular procedure, police units are at the scene,” the spokesman said.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented his new unity government to parliament on Sunday, ending more than a year of political deadlock as he prepares to go on trial in a week for alleged corruption.

His power-sharing agreement with former election rival, centrist Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, opens the way for the right-wing Netanyahu to proceed towards a pledged de facto annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank, land Palestinians seek for a state.

JERUSALEM, May 17 (NNN-MA’AN) – Israel’s Ministry of Health, reported 19 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the total cases to 16,608.

One of the new patients is an educational staff member, at an elementary school in the central city of Rehovot.

As a result, the school has been closed until May 27, and 52 pupils from two classes, as well as staff members, were instructed to undergo home quarantine until that date.

16 May 2020; MEMO: Israeli security officials fear an outbreak of a new “violent” Intifada in the occupied West Bank due to an economic crisis that would undermine the Palestinian Authority (PA).

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised Israel on Wednesday for sharing information during global efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and took another swipe at China over what he said was its lack of transparency.

U.S. President Donald Trump and his senior officials have engaged in a war of words with China, where the new coronavirus first emerged, saying it failed to inform the world fast enough about the dangers it posed and muzzled those who raised the alarm. Beijing strongly denies the charges.

9 May 2020; MEMO: Israel stressed on Friday that it would discuss the reports about cutting the number of US forces involved in the multinational peacekeeping force in the Sinai Peninsula, agencies reported.