Israel News for 10-14-2020
News Update
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The Health Ministry reported 2,255 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday. That puts the contagion rate at 5.4%, which is the lowest since July. There are currently 48,000 active cases of which 808 people are hospitalized in serious condition and 240 on ventilators. There have been 2,255 coronavirus related deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Two IDF soldiers were wounded while conducting an arrest near Nablus last night. One of the soldiers was moderately wounded and the other lightly hurt from what seemed to be shrapnel from an explosive device thrown at them during the operation in the Balata Refugee Camp.
In a rare cross-border raid, Israeli special forces destroyed two Syrian military posts in the demilitarized zone separating the two countries last week. No casualties were reported. The raid came in response to the Syrian military’s growing presence in the buffer zone, in violation of international agreements.
Israel and the UAE will reportedly be signing a commercial air traffic agreement in the next few days that would allow flights between both countries.
Lebanon and Israel, still technically at war, will begin talks today to settle a maritime border dispute and clear the way for hydrocarbon exploration. The talks are sponsored by the US and the UN and will be held at the headquarters of UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL in the Lebanese border town of Naqura. U.S. envoy David Schenker will facilitate the opening session along with U.S. Ambassador to Algeria John Desrocher, who will mediate in the talks. Lebanon insists that negotiations are purely technical and don’t involve any political normalization with Israel.
