Israel News for 7-24-2020
News Update
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The Health Ministry reported 1,892 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. There are currently 32,094 active cases, of which 304 are in serious condition and 83 on ventilators. There have been 446 coronavirus related deaths since the start of the pandemic. 59 of those deaths occurred this week.
PM Netanyahu has appointed Prof. Ronni Gamzu to head up the national coronavirus task force. Gamzu is the CEO of the Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv and former director general of the Health Ministry.
The Knesset Coronavirus Committee yesterday approved the reopening of Israel’s gyms beginning on Sunday and permitted access to local tourist attractions on weekends. The head of the committee, Likud MK Yifat Shasha-Biton, said the decision to delay the reopening of gyms until Sunday was intended to give lawmakers time to formulate an outline that would allow the reopening to happen in a manner that wouldn’t be detrimental to public health. Tourist attractions, such as museums and zoos, will remain open on weekends in accordance with health regulations, but all stores and shopping centers will be closed from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning.
On Thursday Israel freed one of the leaders of Hamas in the West Bank from 16 months of administrative detention.
The IDF said that it was reinforcing Israel’s border with Lebanon with additional troops in response to threats from Hezbollah to retaliate for the killing of one of its fighters in an alleged IDF raid in Syria earlier this week.
