17 apr 2020
In the past 24 hours, 264 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed, but 343 patients have recovered at the same time, the Health Ministry reported Friday morning - this is the first time Israel's daily number of recoveries from coronavirus surpasses the number of new infections.
Israel has recorded 12,855 cases of coronavirus so far - among them are 182 patients in serious condition, including 129 patients receiving respiratory assistance, 11 fewer than 24 hours earlier.
The Health Ministry noted that 15 of the 129 patients, who are treated using ventilators, are elderly people receiving respiratory assistance on a regular basis.
At least 157 patients are in moderate condition, while 9,401 only display mild symptoms and 2,967 patients have made a full recovery from the virus.
There are currently 632 coronavirus patients receiving treatment in hospitals while 7,242 people are fighting the virus at home. Another 1,531 people are currently receiving treatment in specially designated hotels and 335 are awaiting a decision on whether they will be treated.
Five Israelis have succumbed to complications of COVID-19, bringing the country's coronavirus-related fatalities to 148.
Israel has recorded 12,855 cases of coronavirus so far - among them are 182 patients in serious condition, including 129 patients receiving respiratory assistance, 11 fewer than 24 hours earlier.
The Health Ministry noted that 15 of the 129 patients, who are treated using ventilators, are elderly people receiving respiratory assistance on a regular basis.
At least 157 patients are in moderate condition, while 9,401 only display mild symptoms and 2,967 patients have made a full recovery from the virus.
There are currently 632 coronavirus patients receiving treatment in hospitals while 7,242 people are fighting the virus at home. Another 1,531 people are currently receiving treatment in specially designated hotels and 335 are awaiting a decision on whether they will be treated.
Five Israelis have succumbed to complications of COVID-19, bringing the country's coronavirus-related fatalities to 148.
16 apr 2020
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Spitting at someone is a universal insult. In Israel, however, spitting at Palestinians is an entirely different story.
Now that we know that the deadly coronavirus can be transmitted through saliva droplets, Israeli soldiers and illegal Jewish settlers are working extra hard to spit at as many Palestinians, their cars, doorknobs, and so on, as possible. If this sounds to you too surreal and repugnant, then you might not be as familiar with the particular breed of Israeli colonialism as you may think you are. In all fairness, Israelis have been spitting at Palestinians well before the World Health Organization (WHO) lectured us on the elusive nature of |
the COVID-19 disease and on the critical need to apply ‘social distancing’.
Indeed, if you Google the phrase ‘Israeli spitting’, you will be inundated with many interesting search results, the like of “Jerusalem Judge to Jews: Don’t Spit On Christians“, “Christians in Jerusalem want Jews to Stop Spitting on Them“, and the more recent, “Israel Settlers Spitting on Palestinian Cars Raises Concern over Attempt to Spread Coronavirus”.
Interestingly, most of this coverage throughout the years has been carried out by Israel’s own media, while receiving little attention in Western mainstream media.
One could easily classify such degrading acts as yet another example of the Israelis’ false sense of superiority over Palestinians. But the deliberate attempt at infecting occupied Palestinians with the coronavirus is beneath contempt, even for a settler-colonial regime.
Two particular elements in this story require a pause:
First, that acts of spitting at Palestinians and their properties, by both occupation soldiers and settlers, have been widely reported in many parts of occupied Palestine.
This means that, within a matter of days, the Israeli army and settlers’ cultures so swiftly adapted their pre-existing racism to employ a deadly virus as the latest tool in subjugating and harming Palestinians, whether physically or symbolically.
Second, the degree of ignorance and buffoonery that accompany these racist and degrading acts.
The power paradigm that has governed the relationship between colonial Israel and colonized Palestinians has, thus far, followed a typical trajectory, where Israel’s bad deeds often go unpunished.
Those racist Israelis who are deliberately trying to infect Palestinians with the COVID-19 are not only criminal in their thinking and behavior, but utterly foolish as well.
When Israeli soldiers arrest or beat up Palestinian activists, they are as likely to contract the coronavirus as they are to transmit it.
But, of course, Israel is doing much more to complicate, if not entirely hinder, Palestinian efforts aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus.
On March 23, a Palestinian worker, Malek Jayousi, was tossed out by Israeli authorities at the Beit Sira military checkpoint, near Ramallah, after he was suspected of having the coronavirus.
A video footage of the poor worker huddling near the checkpoint, after he was “dumped like trash”, has gone viral on social media.
As shocking as that image was, it was repeated in other parts of the West Bank.
Of course, the Palestinian workers were not tested for the virus, but had merely exhibited flu-like symptoms, enough to make Israel dispose of them as if their lives did not matter in the least.
Two weeks later, the Palestinian Governor of the occupied city of Qalqiliya, Rafi’ Rawajbeh, told reporters that the Israeli army has opened several wastewater tunnels near the northern Palestinian city, with the aim of smuggling Palestinian workers back to the West Bank, without prior coordination with the Palestinian Authority.
Without testing hundreds of those smuggled workers, the PA, already operating with limited capacity to confront the disease, will find it impossible to contain the spread of the virus.
Palestinian claims of Israel’s deliberate attempt at worsening the spread of the coronavirus in Palestine were further confirmed by the Geneva-based Euro-med Monitor, which, on March 31, called on the international community to investigate the ‘suspicious behavior’ of Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers.
During Israeli army raids on Palestinian homes, soldiers “spat at parked cars, ATMs and shop locks, which raises fears of deliberate attempts to spread the virus and cause panic in the Palestinian society,” Euro-Med stated.
Article 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention does not say anything about the need for members of the Occupying Power to stop spitting at occupied and subjugated communities; most likely, because it is a given that such sordid behavior is completely unacceptable and does not require a separate textual reference.
However, Article 56, as was recently emphasized by UN Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory, Michael Lynk, does require Israel, the Occupying Power, to “ensure that all the necessary preventive means available to it are utilized to ‘combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics.’”
Israel, however, is failing its legal mandate, and horribly so.
Even the Israeli mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Leon, has himself stressed the inequality in the official Israeli response to the spread of the coronavirus.
In his letter of April 7 to the Israeli Health Ministry Director General, Moshe Bar Siman Tov, Leon warned against “the serious shortage of medical equipment at (Palestinian) hospitals in (occupied) East Jerusalem, particularly protective equipment and equipment to conduct coronavirus testing.”
Despite the severe shortages in East Jerusalem and West Bank hospitals, the situation in the besieged Gaza Strip is simply disastrous, as Gaza’s Health Ministry has declared on April 9 that it has run out of its coronavirus test kits, which never amounted to more than few hundred, in the first place.
This means that the many Gazans who are already under quarantine will not be released any time soon, and that new cases will not be detected, let alone cured.
We have repeatedly warned in the last few weeks that this terrifying scenario was going to happen, especially as Israel is using the coronavirus as an opportunity to further isolate Palestinians and to barter potential humanitarian aid with political concessions.
Without immediate and sustainable intervention from the international community, occupied Palestine, and especially impoverished and besieged Gaza, could become a hotbed for COVID-19 for years to come.
Israel will never relent without international intervention. Without being held accountable, even a deadly virus will never alter the habits of a vile military occupation.
Indeed, if you Google the phrase ‘Israeli spitting’, you will be inundated with many interesting search results, the like of “Jerusalem Judge to Jews: Don’t Spit On Christians“, “Christians in Jerusalem want Jews to Stop Spitting on Them“, and the more recent, “Israel Settlers Spitting on Palestinian Cars Raises Concern over Attempt to Spread Coronavirus”.
Interestingly, most of this coverage throughout the years has been carried out by Israel’s own media, while receiving little attention in Western mainstream media.
One could easily classify such degrading acts as yet another example of the Israelis’ false sense of superiority over Palestinians. But the deliberate attempt at infecting occupied Palestinians with the coronavirus is beneath contempt, even for a settler-colonial regime.
Two particular elements in this story require a pause:
First, that acts of spitting at Palestinians and their properties, by both occupation soldiers and settlers, have been widely reported in many parts of occupied Palestine.
This means that, within a matter of days, the Israeli army and settlers’ cultures so swiftly adapted their pre-existing racism to employ a deadly virus as the latest tool in subjugating and harming Palestinians, whether physically or symbolically.
Second, the degree of ignorance and buffoonery that accompany these racist and degrading acts.
The power paradigm that has governed the relationship between colonial Israel and colonized Palestinians has, thus far, followed a typical trajectory, where Israel’s bad deeds often go unpunished.
Those racist Israelis who are deliberately trying to infect Palestinians with the COVID-19 are not only criminal in their thinking and behavior, but utterly foolish as well.
When Israeli soldiers arrest or beat up Palestinian activists, they are as likely to contract the coronavirus as they are to transmit it.
But, of course, Israel is doing much more to complicate, if not entirely hinder, Palestinian efforts aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus.
On March 23, a Palestinian worker, Malek Jayousi, was tossed out by Israeli authorities at the Beit Sira military checkpoint, near Ramallah, after he was suspected of having the coronavirus.
A video footage of the poor worker huddling near the checkpoint, after he was “dumped like trash”, has gone viral on social media.
As shocking as that image was, it was repeated in other parts of the West Bank.
Of course, the Palestinian workers were not tested for the virus, but had merely exhibited flu-like symptoms, enough to make Israel dispose of them as if their lives did not matter in the least.
Two weeks later, the Palestinian Governor of the occupied city of Qalqiliya, Rafi’ Rawajbeh, told reporters that the Israeli army has opened several wastewater tunnels near the northern Palestinian city, with the aim of smuggling Palestinian workers back to the West Bank, without prior coordination with the Palestinian Authority.
Without testing hundreds of those smuggled workers, the PA, already operating with limited capacity to confront the disease, will find it impossible to contain the spread of the virus.
Palestinian claims of Israel’s deliberate attempt at worsening the spread of the coronavirus in Palestine were further confirmed by the Geneva-based Euro-med Monitor, which, on March 31, called on the international community to investigate the ‘suspicious behavior’ of Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers.
During Israeli army raids on Palestinian homes, soldiers “spat at parked cars, ATMs and shop locks, which raises fears of deliberate attempts to spread the virus and cause panic in the Palestinian society,” Euro-Med stated.
Article 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention does not say anything about the need for members of the Occupying Power to stop spitting at occupied and subjugated communities; most likely, because it is a given that such sordid behavior is completely unacceptable and does not require a separate textual reference.
However, Article 56, as was recently emphasized by UN Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory, Michael Lynk, does require Israel, the Occupying Power, to “ensure that all the necessary preventive means available to it are utilized to ‘combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics.’”
Israel, however, is failing its legal mandate, and horribly so.
Even the Israeli mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Leon, has himself stressed the inequality in the official Israeli response to the spread of the coronavirus.
In his letter of April 7 to the Israeli Health Ministry Director General, Moshe Bar Siman Tov, Leon warned against “the serious shortage of medical equipment at (Palestinian) hospitals in (occupied) East Jerusalem, particularly protective equipment and equipment to conduct coronavirus testing.”
Despite the severe shortages in East Jerusalem and West Bank hospitals, the situation in the besieged Gaza Strip is simply disastrous, as Gaza’s Health Ministry has declared on April 9 that it has run out of its coronavirus test kits, which never amounted to more than few hundred, in the first place.
This means that the many Gazans who are already under quarantine will not be released any time soon, and that new cases will not be detected, let alone cured.
We have repeatedly warned in the last few weeks that this terrifying scenario was going to happen, especially as Israel is using the coronavirus as an opportunity to further isolate Palestinians and to barter potential humanitarian aid with political concessions.
Without immediate and sustainable intervention from the international community, occupied Palestine, and especially impoverished and besieged Gaza, could become a hotbed for COVID-19 for years to come.
Israel will never relent without international intervention. Without being held accountable, even a deadly virus will never alter the habits of a vile military occupation.
As of Thursday evening, there are 12,758 confirmed coronavirus cases in Israel with 143 patients have succumbed to the disease, health officials confirmed.
The latest fatalities put Israel's death rate from the virus at 1.1%, meaning one out of every 90 COVID-19 patients in the country succumbs to the illness.
Of the latest number, at least 181 patients are in serious condition, including 137 in need of ventilator support - a rise of 3% over the past 24 hours.
Some 158 patients are in moderate condition, 9,464 only display mild symptoms and 2,818 have made a full recovery from the virus.
There are currently 625 coronavirus patients receiving treatment in hospitals while 7,227 people are fighting the virus at home. Another 1,366 people are currently receiving treatment in specially designated hotels and 580 are awaiting a decision on where they will be treated.
Israel's coronavirus death toll reaches 141 with 12,591 cases of COVID-19 confirmed
Israel's coronavirus fatality toll rose to 141, the highest spike in any 24 hour period thus far, with confirmed cases standing at 12,591, health authorities confirmed Thursday.
Among the latest figures are 174 patients in serious condition, including 140 patients receiving ventilator support.
At least 172 patients are in moderate condition, while 9,481 only display mild symptoms and 2,624 patients have made a full recovery from the virus.
There are currently 669 coronavirus patients receiving treatment in hospitals while 7,339 people are fighting the virus at home. Another 1,193 people are currently receiving treatment in specially designated hotels and 626 are awaiting a decision on whether they will be treated.
Health Minister Yaakov Litzman who along with his wife had been diagnosed with the virus early in April had now been tested and found negative for COVID-19 but will undergo further testing.
The cabinet will convene on Thursday to discuss the government's plan for an exit strategy from the coronavirus enforced restrictions.
The latest fatalities put Israel's death rate from the virus at 1.1%, meaning one out of every 90 COVID-19 patients in the country succumbs to the illness.
Of the latest number, at least 181 patients are in serious condition, including 137 in need of ventilator support - a rise of 3% over the past 24 hours.
Some 158 patients are in moderate condition, 9,464 only display mild symptoms and 2,818 have made a full recovery from the virus.
There are currently 625 coronavirus patients receiving treatment in hospitals while 7,227 people are fighting the virus at home. Another 1,366 people are currently receiving treatment in specially designated hotels and 580 are awaiting a decision on where they will be treated.
Israel's coronavirus death toll reaches 141 with 12,591 cases of COVID-19 confirmed
Israel's coronavirus fatality toll rose to 141, the highest spike in any 24 hour period thus far, with confirmed cases standing at 12,591, health authorities confirmed Thursday.
Among the latest figures are 174 patients in serious condition, including 140 patients receiving ventilator support.
At least 172 patients are in moderate condition, while 9,481 only display mild symptoms and 2,624 patients have made a full recovery from the virus.
There are currently 669 coronavirus patients receiving treatment in hospitals while 7,339 people are fighting the virus at home. Another 1,193 people are currently receiving treatment in specially designated hotels and 626 are awaiting a decision on whether they will be treated.
Health Minister Yaakov Litzman who along with his wife had been diagnosed with the virus early in April had now been tested and found negative for COVID-19 but will undergo further testing.
The cabinet will convene on Thursday to discuss the government's plan for an exit strategy from the coronavirus enforced restrictions.
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