10 july 2020

New diagnoses mark significant downturn since day before, which saw record high of 1,464 positive tests; death toll reaches 351; 130 COVID-19 patients now in serious condition, with 42 people on ventilators
The Health Ministry said Friday evening that three people have died as a result of the coronavirus since Thursday midnight, bringing the number of COVID-19 fatalities in Israel to 351.
A total of 840 people also tested positive for the disease Friday, with 130 patients currently in serious condition - a rise of eight since Thursday - including 42 people on ventilators.
The new figures show a drop-off in coronavirus patients since Thursday, when Israel recorded 1,464 new cases, a record high in the daily infection rate.
Israel has seen a total of 36,266 confirmed cases of the virus since the pandemic reached Israel in mid-March. Of that number, 17,302 are currently fighting the pathogen.
Israel has seen a dramatic spike in coronavirus cases since the start of June after a gradual easing of lockdown restrictions that had paralyzed the country, leading to a devastating impact on the economy and over a million jobs lost.
As a result, the government announced that starting from Friday, lockdowns would be reimposed in hot spot areas of five cities across the country, including Jerusalem, Beit-Shemesh, Lod, Ramle and Kiryat Malachi.
As Israel continues to grapple with the apparent resurgence of COVID-19, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday unveiled a new economic assistance plan worth an estimated NIS 70 billion ($20.3 billion) aimed at helping small business owners and the self-employed, as well as those who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
With1,464 new cases, Israel records higest daily rise in virus infections
Health Ministry reports 16,651 active cases of COVID-19 with 124 people in serious condition, including 39 patients on ventilators; partial lockdowns on several communities set to come into effect at 1pm
In the past 24 hours, 1,464 people have tested positive for coronavirus, Israel's highest daily tally of confirmed cases since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Coronavirus National Information and Knowledge Center reported on Friday.
There are currently 16,651 active coronavirus patients in the country, among them, 124 patients in serious condition and 39 patients are on ventilators.
Four Israelis have succumbed overnight to complications of COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus, bringing Israel's virus-related fatalities to 350.
Health authorities conducted 26,446 coronavirus tests on Thursday, 5.5% of which returned positive.
As part of the measures to stave off the spread of the deadly pathogen, a partial lockdown will come into effect at 1pm Friday on several neighborhoods Jerusalem, Lod, Ramla, Beit Shemesh, Kiryat Malachi.
The lockdowns will expire next Friday, except for Lod, whose restrictions are set to expire on Wednesday.
Entry to these restricted areas is limited only for essential medical care, legal proceedings, transfer of minors between parents living separately, among other essential needs.
Business activity will also be restricted in these areas.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said in a closed meeting that if Israel reaches 2,000 confirmed coronavirus cases a day, authorities may have to resort to imposing a general lockdown in order to contain the virus' spread, according to a report published on Friday.
The Health Ministry said Friday evening that three people have died as a result of the coronavirus since Thursday midnight, bringing the number of COVID-19 fatalities in Israel to 351.
A total of 840 people also tested positive for the disease Friday, with 130 patients currently in serious condition - a rise of eight since Thursday - including 42 people on ventilators.
The new figures show a drop-off in coronavirus patients since Thursday, when Israel recorded 1,464 new cases, a record high in the daily infection rate.
Israel has seen a total of 36,266 confirmed cases of the virus since the pandemic reached Israel in mid-March. Of that number, 17,302 are currently fighting the pathogen.
Israel has seen a dramatic spike in coronavirus cases since the start of June after a gradual easing of lockdown restrictions that had paralyzed the country, leading to a devastating impact on the economy and over a million jobs lost.
As a result, the government announced that starting from Friday, lockdowns would be reimposed in hot spot areas of five cities across the country, including Jerusalem, Beit-Shemesh, Lod, Ramle and Kiryat Malachi.
As Israel continues to grapple with the apparent resurgence of COVID-19, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday unveiled a new economic assistance plan worth an estimated NIS 70 billion ($20.3 billion) aimed at helping small business owners and the self-employed, as well as those who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
With1,464 new cases, Israel records higest daily rise in virus infections
Health Ministry reports 16,651 active cases of COVID-19 with 124 people in serious condition, including 39 patients on ventilators; partial lockdowns on several communities set to come into effect at 1pm
In the past 24 hours, 1,464 people have tested positive for coronavirus, Israel's highest daily tally of confirmed cases since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Coronavirus National Information and Knowledge Center reported on Friday.
There are currently 16,651 active coronavirus patients in the country, among them, 124 patients in serious condition and 39 patients are on ventilators.
Four Israelis have succumbed overnight to complications of COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus, bringing Israel's virus-related fatalities to 350.
Health authorities conducted 26,446 coronavirus tests on Thursday, 5.5% of which returned positive.
As part of the measures to stave off the spread of the deadly pathogen, a partial lockdown will come into effect at 1pm Friday on several neighborhoods Jerusalem, Lod, Ramla, Beit Shemesh, Kiryat Malachi.
The lockdowns will expire next Friday, except for Lod, whose restrictions are set to expire on Wednesday.
Entry to these restricted areas is limited only for essential medical care, legal proceedings, transfer of minors between parents living separately, among other essential needs.
Business activity will also be restricted in these areas.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said in a closed meeting that if Israel reaches 2,000 confirmed coronavirus cases a day, authorities may have to resort to imposing a general lockdown in order to contain the virus' spread, according to a report published on Friday.
9 july 2020

Health Ministry reports 16,025 active cases of COVID-19 with 122 people in serious condition, including 39 patients on ventilators; healthcare providers step up testing as COVID-19 death toll reaches 348 and daily average approaches pre-April lockdown highs
Israel sees 1,231 daily coronavirus cases, with 118 in serious condition
The Health Ministry lists a host of Israeli towns and cities, including Jerusalem, Ra'anana, Beit Shemesh, as 'red zones' allowing them to potentially be declared as 'restricted areas' and put in lockdown
Israel saw over 1,200 new coronavirus diagnoses in a single day, with the number of serious cases passing the 100-mark, health officials confirmed on Thursday morning.
The Health Ministry reported that on Wednesday alone 1,231 new cases were confirmed, bringing the number of active patients currently ill with the disease to 15,209, the highest tally since the start of the outbreak in Israel.
The ministry conducted 27,542 coronavirus tests on Wednesday, putting the contagion rate at 4.5%
The Health Ministry also reported that 118 patients are now in a serious condition, of which 41 are ventilated, with the death toll climbing to 346.
The report also said that since the start of this week, 5,351 people have tested positive for the pathogen.
The ministry added that 412 patients are currently being treated in hospitals, with the rest fighting the virus either at home or at requisition hotels.
Jerusalem still has the highest number of confirmed virus carriers, with 2,051 cases, followed by Tel Aviv with 1,278, Bnei Brak with 1,091 and Ashdod with 813.
The Health Ministry on Wednesday put a host of cities and towns into the "red zone," meaning they could be declared by the government as "restricted areas" and put into partial or full lockdown.
The areas include Jerusalem, Ra'anana, Beit Shemesh, Ramla, Lod, Yavne, Modi'in Illit, Beitar Illit, Kiryat Malachi, Beit She'an, Kafr Qasim and Kafr Qara.
Israel sees 1,231 daily coronavirus cases, with 118 in serious condition
The Health Ministry lists a host of Israeli towns and cities, including Jerusalem, Ra'anana, Beit Shemesh, as 'red zones' allowing them to potentially be declared as 'restricted areas' and put in lockdown
Israel saw over 1,200 new coronavirus diagnoses in a single day, with the number of serious cases passing the 100-mark, health officials confirmed on Thursday morning.
The Health Ministry reported that on Wednesday alone 1,231 new cases were confirmed, bringing the number of active patients currently ill with the disease to 15,209, the highest tally since the start of the outbreak in Israel.
The ministry conducted 27,542 coronavirus tests on Wednesday, putting the contagion rate at 4.5%
The Health Ministry also reported that 118 patients are now in a serious condition, of which 41 are ventilated, with the death toll climbing to 346.
The report also said that since the start of this week, 5,351 people have tested positive for the pathogen.
The ministry added that 412 patients are currently being treated in hospitals, with the rest fighting the virus either at home or at requisition hotels.
Jerusalem still has the highest number of confirmed virus carriers, with 2,051 cases, followed by Tel Aviv with 1,278, Bnei Brak with 1,091 and Ashdod with 813.
The Health Ministry on Wednesday put a host of cities and towns into the "red zone," meaning they could be declared by the government as "restricted areas" and put into partial or full lockdown.
The areas include Jerusalem, Ra'anana, Beit Shemesh, Ramla, Lod, Yavne, Modi'in Illit, Beitar Illit, Kiryat Malachi, Beit She'an, Kafr Qasim and Kafr Qara.
8 july 2020

In Tel Aviv on Tuesday, an Israeli court rejected an appeal by the Islamic Council of Jaffa to preserve a 200-year old Muslim cemetery, ruling instead that the municipality of Tel Aviv can move forward with plans to build a homeless shelter on the site. video
The ruling followed weeks of protests, in which Israeli police beat Palestinian citizens who challenged the plan to demolish the cemetery. They said it was part of the Israeli government’s policy to erase Palestinian heritage, just as the Israeli government had erased and demolished so many Palestinian towns, villages and historic sites over the past 72 years that Israel has existed.
In addition to ruling that the cemetery could be destroyed, Judge Limor Bibi ordered the Jaffa Islamic Council to pay $2,200 in legal fees.
The case evoked memories of a similar fight that took place in Jerusalem several years ago, in which Palestinians resisted the Israeli plan to demolish a Muslim cemetery in order to build a ‘Museum of Tolerance’. They lost that fight, and the cemetery was destroyed in order to construct the Museum.
In the current case, the Islamic Council had managed to get an Israeli court to temporarily halt construction on the site when they proved that the Tel Aviv municipality had no legal permit to destroy the 200-year old Al-Isaaf cemetery. The original hearing was supposed to be July 22nd. But lawyers for the city of Tel Aviv argued that the city’s finances were being negatively impacted, and the court agreed to move the hearing up to July 7th.
The municipality argued that the site was not a place of special significance to Jaffa’s Muslim community, claiming that it had been abandoned for decades until their construction equipment dug up the skeletons of thirty people while doing excavation on the site.
The director of the Islamic Council, Tarek Ashkar, called the court ruling “legal acrobatics”, and said it was a blatant example of anti-Palestinian discrimination in Israel.
The judge appeared to make the decision based on a technicality – the fact that construction had continued on the site, and had not ceased for an entire year – because of the continuation of the work, Judge Bibi said that the permit was never invalidated, and so the municipality should not have to apply for a new permit.
According to Middle East Eye, the Al-Isaaf cemetery, which lies just north of the walls of Old Jaffa near the Hassan Bek Mosque, was built almost 200 years ago. Despite not being in active use for nearly 90 years, the cemetery holds hundreds of Palestinian tombs.
Middle East Eye points out that Jaffa was once an epicentre of the Palestinian economy, with some 120,000 people living in and around the flourishing city on the Mediterranean Sea in 1948. Almost 95 percent of the Palestinian population of Jaffa and its surrounding villages were expelled by Zionist militias during the Nakba, or the catastrophe, that year, during the formation of the state of Israel.
Over the decades, Jaffa’s historic neighbourhoods were progressively demolished and the city shrank into a small town that was then absorbed by the municipality of Tel Aviv.
The ruling followed weeks of protests, in which Israeli police beat Palestinian citizens who challenged the plan to demolish the cemetery. They said it was part of the Israeli government’s policy to erase Palestinian heritage, just as the Israeli government had erased and demolished so many Palestinian towns, villages and historic sites over the past 72 years that Israel has existed.
In addition to ruling that the cemetery could be destroyed, Judge Limor Bibi ordered the Jaffa Islamic Council to pay $2,200 in legal fees.
The case evoked memories of a similar fight that took place in Jerusalem several years ago, in which Palestinians resisted the Israeli plan to demolish a Muslim cemetery in order to build a ‘Museum of Tolerance’. They lost that fight, and the cemetery was destroyed in order to construct the Museum.
In the current case, the Islamic Council had managed to get an Israeli court to temporarily halt construction on the site when they proved that the Tel Aviv municipality had no legal permit to destroy the 200-year old Al-Isaaf cemetery. The original hearing was supposed to be July 22nd. But lawyers for the city of Tel Aviv argued that the city’s finances were being negatively impacted, and the court agreed to move the hearing up to July 7th.
The municipality argued that the site was not a place of special significance to Jaffa’s Muslim community, claiming that it had been abandoned for decades until their construction equipment dug up the skeletons of thirty people while doing excavation on the site.
The director of the Islamic Council, Tarek Ashkar, called the court ruling “legal acrobatics”, and said it was a blatant example of anti-Palestinian discrimination in Israel.
The judge appeared to make the decision based on a technicality – the fact that construction had continued on the site, and had not ceased for an entire year – because of the continuation of the work, Judge Bibi said that the permit was never invalidated, and so the municipality should not have to apply for a new permit.
According to Middle East Eye, the Al-Isaaf cemetery, which lies just north of the walls of Old Jaffa near the Hassan Bek Mosque, was built almost 200 years ago. Despite not being in active use for nearly 90 years, the cemetery holds hundreds of Palestinian tombs.
Middle East Eye points out that Jaffa was once an epicentre of the Palestinian economy, with some 120,000 people living in and around the flourishing city on the Mediterranean Sea in 1948. Almost 95 percent of the Palestinian population of Jaffa and its surrounding villages were expelled by Zionist militias during the Nakba, or the catastrophe, that year, during the formation of the state of Israel.
Over the decades, Jaffa’s historic neighbourhoods were progressively demolished and the city shrank into a small town that was then absorbed by the municipality of Tel Aviv.

Health Ministry says 107 people now in serious condition, up from 83 by Tuesday midnight; data shows 14,104 active cases, a rise of almost 500 diagnoses; COVID-19 national death toll climbs by one to 343
Israel tops 1,300 new daily cases as labs warn of test overload
New figures mark third time in week that the number of confirmed cases in one day has exceeded 1,000; Health Ministry expected to narrow criteria for testing as providers warn they cannot cope with astronomical demand
Israel saw 1,319 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, according to the daily report by the National Coronavirus Information and Knowledge Center.
This is both a new high in daily cases for the country and the third time in one week that the number of new diagnoses has exceeded 1,000.
According to the data, which is provided by the Health Ministry, Israel conducted 25,570 tests on Tuesday, with a positive rate of 5.2%.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry is expected to tighten the criteria to qualify for coronavirus testing after a massive uptick in cases has led to soaring numbers of people requesting a test.
Healthcare providers have warned the ministry that they cannot cope with the astronomical numbers of tests for the virus, which last week reached a daily record of 24,000 as compared to just 1,000 tests conducted on May 30.
The more significant changes are likely to include reducing the authority of family physicians to refer patients for testing and a significant reduction in tests carried out in schools.
Israelis to sue state over 'wrongful' virus quarantine orders
Israelis who say they were erroneously ordered into coronavirus quarantine due to mistakes by a controversial tracking system are planning to sue the state for lost income.
The government voted Monday to reinstate the method of tracking infected people and those they have come into contact with, which is normally reserved for counter-terrorism operations.
The system was halted at the end of May as emergency regulations expired, and the head of the Shin Bet security service Nadav Argaman opposed its reintroduction for civilian purposes.
Many of the tens of thousands of Israelis who have received instructions to self-quarantine from the Health Ministry since the program was resumed on Monday claim that mistakes have been made in their case.
According to the Hebrew-language outlet N12, one woman was notified that she had been exposed to a confirmed patient in a hospital delivery room but says she was nowhere near a delivery room and is not even pregnant.
Another man was instructed to must isolate although he was in London at the time and could not have come into contact with anyone ill or otherwise in Israel.
Argaman has requested a special meeting Wednesday with the so-called coronavirus cabinet of ministers dealing with the pandemic.
Sources familiar with the technology say it was used to fight terror in conjunction with other methods and could not be expected to deliver complete accuracy on its own.
Some Israelis who say they were misidentified by the tracking program said they could not get through to the Health Ministry hotline to explain that a mistake had been made.
On Monday, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein apologized for the telephone backlog and promised to increase staff to meet the public demand.
However, some who were ordered into quarantine have decided to take legal action against the government, citing the loss of workdays and income.
A recently launched Facebook group dubbed “Shin Bet tracking victims” intended to file a class action lawsuit on behalf of citizens who were mistakenly ordered into quarantine.
“It is impossible that people in Israel are finding themselves imprisoned in their homes and in isolation due to Shin Bet tracking mistakes,” Marianna Kandov, who is behind the initiative, told N12.
Israel tops 1,300 new daily cases as labs warn of test overload
New figures mark third time in week that the number of confirmed cases in one day has exceeded 1,000; Health Ministry expected to narrow criteria for testing as providers warn they cannot cope with astronomical demand
Israel saw 1,319 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, according to the daily report by the National Coronavirus Information and Knowledge Center.
This is both a new high in daily cases for the country and the third time in one week that the number of new diagnoses has exceeded 1,000.
According to the data, which is provided by the Health Ministry, Israel conducted 25,570 tests on Tuesday, with a positive rate of 5.2%.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry is expected to tighten the criteria to qualify for coronavirus testing after a massive uptick in cases has led to soaring numbers of people requesting a test.
Healthcare providers have warned the ministry that they cannot cope with the astronomical numbers of tests for the virus, which last week reached a daily record of 24,000 as compared to just 1,000 tests conducted on May 30.
The more significant changes are likely to include reducing the authority of family physicians to refer patients for testing and a significant reduction in tests carried out in schools.
Israelis to sue state over 'wrongful' virus quarantine orders
Israelis who say they were erroneously ordered into coronavirus quarantine due to mistakes by a controversial tracking system are planning to sue the state for lost income.
The government voted Monday to reinstate the method of tracking infected people and those they have come into contact with, which is normally reserved for counter-terrorism operations.
The system was halted at the end of May as emergency regulations expired, and the head of the Shin Bet security service Nadav Argaman opposed its reintroduction for civilian purposes.
Many of the tens of thousands of Israelis who have received instructions to self-quarantine from the Health Ministry since the program was resumed on Monday claim that mistakes have been made in their case.
According to the Hebrew-language outlet N12, one woman was notified that she had been exposed to a confirmed patient in a hospital delivery room but says she was nowhere near a delivery room and is not even pregnant.
Another man was instructed to must isolate although he was in London at the time and could not have come into contact with anyone ill or otherwise in Israel.
Argaman has requested a special meeting Wednesday with the so-called coronavirus cabinet of ministers dealing with the pandemic.
Sources familiar with the technology say it was used to fight terror in conjunction with other methods and could not be expected to deliver complete accuracy on its own.
Some Israelis who say they were misidentified by the tracking program said they could not get through to the Health Ministry hotline to explain that a mistake had been made.
On Monday, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein apologized for the telephone backlog and promised to increase staff to meet the public demand.
However, some who were ordered into quarantine have decided to take legal action against the government, citing the loss of workdays and income.
A recently launched Facebook group dubbed “Shin Bet tracking victims” intended to file a class action lawsuit on behalf of citizens who were mistakenly ordered into quarantine.
“It is impossible that people in Israel are finding themselves imprisoned in their homes and in isolation due to Shin Bet tracking mistakes,” Marianna Kandov, who is behind the initiative, told N12.
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