Israel

11 Sep 2019; MEMO: Israeli aircraft struck in Gaza on Wednesday hours after rockets from the Palestinian enclave triggered sirens that forced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu off the stage at an election rally in Israel, reports Reuters.

The Israeli military said 15 targets were hit, including a weapons manufacturing facility, a naval compound used by militants and tunnels belonging to Hamas, the dominant armed force in Gaza.

11 Sep 2019; MEMO: Israeli newspaper Maariv reported yesterday that the consumption of sedatives has increased among Israelis living in the areas around the Gaza Strip.

The region also has a high rate of alcohol abuse, the paper reported, as a result of the “unstable” security situation.

Drug and alcohol abuse is mainly reported among younger Israelis who have lived to see Israel attack the Gaza Strip in three different wars since 2008.

JERUSALEM, Sept 11 (NNN-MA’AN) – Polls released on Tuesday, predicted a narrow victory by Israel’s opposition party, in the Israeli elections next week.

Two separate polls released by Israel’s main TV news channels, showed that the centrist Blue and White party wins 32 seats, in the 120-seat parliament, while Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud ruling party wins only 31.

CAIRO/JERUSALEM, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian and Arab leaders on Tuesday condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to annex the occupied Jordan Valley in the West Bank, while warning it could kill the peace process.

Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he would annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank right after Israel's Sept. 17 election, if he wins re-election.

"I intend to apply Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea immediately after the elections," Netanyahu said in a televised speech.

JERUSALEM, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel has exposed a nuclear weapons development site in Iran, calling for world leaders to increase the pressure on Iran.

In a live broadcast on Israel's main TV channels, Netanyahu said that the nuclear site was discovered in Abadeh, a county in Iran's southern Fars province.

He presented two aerial photos, saying that they indicate that Iran had destroyed the site after learning that Israel discovered its purpose.

10 Sep 2019; MEMO: The Israeli High Court gave the Israeli army the green light on Monday to block the release of the bodies of Palestinians killed by occupation forces, Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre (JLAC) has revealed. The corpses will be used as bargaining chips in any future negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

10 Sep 2019; MEMO: The leader of Israel’s Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) party, Benny Gantz, is planning to propose a bill which would ban the prime minister and other ministers from staying in office while they are being charged with corruption, Arab48.com reported on Monday.

10 Sep 2019; MEMO: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed on Monday in a bid to have cameras installed at Israeli voting stations, but seized on the legislative defeat to hone accusations his foes intend to steal next week’s election, reports Reuters.

Echoing Donald Trump in his winning presidential run in 2016, Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud party, has turned possible voter fraud into a central theme of his own campaign in a tightly contested race.

9 Sep 2019; MEMO: There are now 40 Palestinian women being held in Israeli jails, the Palestine Prisoners Centre for Studies revealed yesterday.

Felesteen.ps reported the NGO saying in a statement that Israeli occupation forces arrest 10-15 female Palestinians every month.

They are interrogated, the NGO said, some remain in prison while others are placed under house arrest.

9 Sep 2019; MEMO: Israel’s cabinet yesterday approved legislation that allows filming inside polling stations, Ynet News reported, noting that the draft bill will go to the Knesset prior to 17 September election date.

According to the Israeli news website, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents said that the move was effectively meant to intimidate Arab voters.