Israel News for 7-28-2021
News Update
A Palestinian man, 41, attempted to attack an IDF patrol with an iron bar near the village of Beita (West Bank) yesterday. The troops fired warning shots into the air, but when the attacker continued rushing towards them they fired, killing him.
The Human Rights Watch NGO yesterday accused the IDF of carrying out attacks that “apparently amount to war crimes” during its 11-day war against Hamas in Gaza. The international human rights organization issued its conclusions after investigating three Israeli airstrikes that it said killed 62 Palestinian civilians. It said “there were no evident military targets in the vicinity” of the attacks.
The HRW report also accused Palestinian factions of apparent war crimes by launching over 4,000 unguided rockets and mortars at Israeli population centers. Such attacks, it said, violate “the prohibition against deliberate or indiscriminate attacks against civilians.” The report, however, focused on Israeli actions during the fighting. The IDF has stated that it took extensive precautions to prevent civilian casualties and blames Hamas for placing military targets within civilian population centers.
Israel announced that it will issue 16,000 additional work permits to Palestinians living in the West Bank allowing them to work in the construction and hotel industries in Israel. The new permits will bring the number of Palestinians allowed to work in Israel to 106,000, with another 30,000 Palestinians authorized to work in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
PM Bennett, DM Gantz and Finance Minister Lieberman have agreed on a NIS 58 billion defense budget for 2022.
Ninety MKs, from all factions in the Knesset, signed a letter today asking Unilever, which owns Ben & Jerry’s, to immediately revoke the company’s decision not to sell its products in the Israeli settlements. The letter called the decision hypocritical and said, “This is shameful, abusive behavior and above all a decision that excludes large sections of the very public that Ben & Jerry’s world management ostensibly seeks to support.”
The Health Ministry reported over 2,000 new covid cases, for the second day in a row. The infection rate stands at 2.4% of those tested. At least 153 patients are in serious condition, of whom 28 are ventilated. According to the Health Ministry’s analysis, 102 of the severely ill patients are aged 65 and over, 76 of whom are fully vaccinated. At least 39 of severely ill are between the age of 40 and 65, while 16 of them are fully vaccinated. Six of severely ill are below the age of 40, and only one of them is fully vaccinated.
The Health Ministry is expected to recommend a third vaccine dose, which has already begun to be administered to those with compromised immune systems and the elderly. The third dose could begin to be administered as early as next week.
Idit Harel Segal, a 50 year old kindergarten teacher from northern Israel, has donated a kidney to a 3-year-old Palestinian boy from the Gaza. To read more, click here.
