World News

Israel’s president launches drive to give third COVID-19 shot to over-60s

Israeli President Isaac Herzog received a third shot of coronavirus vaccine on Friday, kicking off a campaign to give booster doses to people aged over 60 as part of efforts…

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UPDATED: Israel to offer third shot of Pfizer vaccine to people over 60

Israel will begin offering a third shot of the Pfizer/Biontech COVID-19 vaccine to people aged over 60, a world first in efforts to slow the spread of the highly contagious…

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Israeli airlines start direct flights to Morocco

Two Israeli carriers on Sunday launched nonstop commercial flights to Marrakesh from Tel Aviv following the upgrading of diplomatic relations last year between Morocco and Israel. Israel and Morocco agreed…

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Israeli troops kill Palestinian teen in West Bank clash – Palestinian officials

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian teenager during a clash in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The violence…

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Olympics – Israelis killed at 1972 Munich Games remembered in opening ceremony

TOKYO, July 23 (Reuters) - Israeli Olympic team members killed by Palestinian gunmen at the 1972 Munich Olympics were remembered during the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony on Friday with a…

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Israel to reimpose coronavirus ‘Green Pass’ as Delta variant hits

Israel announced plans to allow only people who are deemed immune to COVID-19 or have recently tested negative to enter some public spaces such as restaurants, gyms and synagogues after…

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Israel eyes spyware export curbs; Macron, Merkel troubled by abuse reports

An Israeli parliamentary panel may seek changes to defence export policy over reports that software sold by Israel's NSO Group was used to spy on journalists, officials and rights activists…

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Israel’s FM Lapid says will travel to Morocco in late July

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on Monday he will travel to Morocco at the end of July, the first official visit by Israel's top diplomat to the Arab state…

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Liberals in Israeli government to discuss NSO spyware with defence minister

JERUSALEM, July 19 (Reuters) - A liberal party in Israel's governing coalition said on Monday it would ask the Defence Ministry about exports of Israeli spyware that media reports have…

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Israeli firm’s spyware used to target journalists’ cell phones

An Israeli company's spyware was used in attempted and successful hacks of 37 smartphones belonging to journalists, government officials and human rights activists around the world, according to an investigation…

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Israel offers third shot of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to adults at risk

Israel said on Sunday it will begin offering a third dose of Pfizer Inc's vaccine to adults with weak immune systems but it was still weighing whether to make the…

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Herzog takes office as Israel’s 11th president

Isaac Herzog took office on Wednesday as Israel’s 11th president after a day of ceremonies with outgoing President Reuven Rivlin. During his term in office, Rivlin consistently scored high public…

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Israel’s new government dealt blow in controversial citizenship vote

Israel failed on Tuesday to renew a controversial law that bars granting citizenship or residency to Palestinians from the occupied West Bank or Gaza who are married to Israeli citizens,…

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Israel sees drop in Pfizer vaccine protection against infections

Israel reported on Monday a decrease in the effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in preventing infections and symptomatic illness but said it remained highly effective in preventing serious illness. The decline…

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Cyprus seeks aid from EU and Israel as huge forest fire rages

NICOSIA, July 3 (Reuters) - Cyprus appealed for aid from its EU partners and Israel on Saturday as a huge forest fire raged north of the cities of Limassol and…

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Israeli officials say cargo ship possibly attacked en route to UAE- Israeli media

JERUSALEM/DUBAI, July 3 (Reuters) - Israeli defence officials were checking whether Iranian forces were behind a possible attack on a cargo ship under partial Israeli ownership on Saturday on its…

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UPDATED: Israel seeks to extend new Gulf ties to all Middle East, says Lapid

Israel's foreign minister said on Wednesday his visit to the United Arab Emirates was just the start of a road to peace with other Middle East countries, signalling an offer…

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Police, Palestinians clash as Israel begins demolition in Jerusalem’s Silwan

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel demolished a Palestinian shop in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan on Tuesday, triggering scuffles between police and protesters who accused authorities of discriminatory enforcement of…

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Israel requires masks indoors again as Delta variant drives up cases

Israel told its citizens on Friday they must again wear masks indoors, 10 days after being allowed to ditch them, amid a sustained surge in coronavirus infections attributed to the…

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Pfizer says COVID vaccine highly effective against Delta variant

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is highly effective against the Delta variant of COVID-19, a Pfizer official in Israel said on Thursday. First identified in India, Delta is becoming the globally dominant…

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Delta variant prompts Israeli rethink of quarantine waiver for COVID vaccinees

Israel empowered health officials on Wednesday to quarantine anyone deemed to have been exposed to an especially infectious variant of COVID-19 even if they were previously vaccinated against or recovered…

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Israel urges vaccination for all teens, citing Delta variant

Israel recommended that all 12-15 year-olds be vaccinated against COVID-19, citing new outbreaks attributed to the more infectious Delta variant. Israel expanded vaccine eligibility to include adolescents last month but until…

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UPDATE – Israel’s Bennett warns against nuclear talks with Iran’s “hangmen regime”

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday called the election of Ebrahim Raisi as Iran's president a "final wake-up call" for the world, the Ynet news site reported. He said…

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Israel says COVID-19 vaccines rejected by Palestinians were safe

COVID-19 vaccines delivered by Israel and then rejected by the Palestinian Authority (PA) over their expiration date were fine, the Israeli health ministry said on Saturday. Israel and the PA…

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UPDATED: Israel says COVID-19 vaccines rejected by Palestinians were safe

COVID-19 vaccines delivered by Israel and then rejected by the Palestinian Authority (PA) over their expiration date were fine, the Israeli health ministry said on Saturday. Israel and the PA…

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Israel to give Palestinians 1 mln COVID vaccine doses in exchange deal

Israel will give at least 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the Palestinian Authority (PA) under a deal to share shots, officials said on Friday, in a boost for the…

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Israel keen to establish ties with SE Asia’s Muslim nations

Israel is willing to work towards establishing ties with Southeast Asia's Muslim majority nations, its ambassador to Singapore said on Thursday, despite their condemnation in May of Israeli air strikes…

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UPDATED: Israel strikes Hamas sites over fire balloons, challenging truce

Israeli aircraft struck Hamas sites in Gaza on Wednesday after incendiary balloons were launched from the Palestinian enclave in the first such attacks since a fragile ceasefire ended 11 days…

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New Israeli government approves nationalist march in Jerusalem

Israel's new government on Monday approved a Jewish nationalist march in Jerusalem, a step that risks inflaming tensions with Palestinians hours after veteran leader Benjamin Netanyahu handed over power to…

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Who’s who in Israel’s new patchwork coalition government

Israel's new government is a hodgepodge of political parties that had little in common other than a desire to unseat veteran right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The coalition, sworn in…

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New Israeli government wins majority vote, ending Netanyahu tenure

Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year run as Israel's prime minister ended on Sunday with parliament approving a new "government of change" led by nationalist Naftali Bennett. Heading into opposition, Netanyahu, 71, the…

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Out, but not down, Netanyahu could be tough opposition leader

Long the familiar face of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu is headed to the political sidelines after serving as prime minister for more than a decade. But even as he battles in…

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UPDATED: Israel’s Knesset to vote on new government, end Netanyahu’s record reign

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's record 12-year hold on power was set to end on Sunday when parliament votes on a new government, ushering in an administration that has pledged…

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New Israeli government seals coalition deals as Netanyahu era approaches its end

The new Israeli government set to end Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year tenure as prime minister signed its final coalition agreements on Friday, pointedly including term limits. The coalition of parties from…

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Israel is set for a change of government. Who? When? Why?

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, is on the verge of being toppled from power after more than a decade in office. The 71-year-old right-winger looks set to be ousted…

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Netanyahu, fighting for political life, hits back at deal to unseat him

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday fought back against an agreement by his political opponents for a government of left-wing, centrist and right-wing parties aimed at unseating him. Netanyahu,…

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UPDATED: Israel’s opposition declares new government, set to unseat Netanyahu

Israel's opposition leader moved closer to unseating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announcing an agreement with a coalition of diverse political allies to form a new government. But the fragile alliance,…

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Israel to gradually end jobless benefits as economy recovers

Israel will gradually end jobless benefits as the economy begins recovering from the COVID-19 crisis, starting with people younger than 28 and without children, the Finance Ministry said. The government…

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UPDATED: Israel sees probable link between Pfizer vaccine and heart inflammation cases

Israel's Health Ministry said on Tuesday it had found the small number of heart inflammation cases observed mainly in young men who received Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in Israel were likely…

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Israel’s Lapid enlists Gantz, moves closer to unseating Netanyahu

Israel's opposition leader moved closer to unseating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday after agreeing terms with several parties, including one led by Defence Minister Benny Gantz, for a proposed…

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UPDATED: Veteran politician Herzog elected president of Israel

Israel's parliament on Wednesday elected former centre-left politician Isaac Herzog as the country's president, a role that is largely ceremonial but also meant to promote unity among ethnic and religious…

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Netanyahu’s disparate rivals try to nail down pact to unseat him

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rivals on Monday sought to finalise a unity coalition that would unseat the veteran Israeli leader, but political commentators saw a bitter fight ahead. Centrist opposition chief…

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Netanyahu’s grip on power loosens as rival moves to unseat him

Far-right party leader Naftali Bennett threw his crucial support on Sunday behind a "unity government" in Israel to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in what would be the end of…

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End of Netanyahu era could be in the cards in Israeli political drama

Israel was gripped by political drama on Sunday over the possibly imminent end of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's record run as the country's leader. After four inconclusive parliamentary elections in…

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Egypt’s foreign minister to meet Israeli counterpart on Sunday

Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry is due to meet his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi on Sunday for talks, Egypt's foreign ministry said on Saturday. Egypt is working with the United…

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UN rights council votes for probe into ‘crimes’ committed in Gaza conflict

The United Nations Human Rights Council agreed on Thursday to launch an international investigation into crimes committed during the 11-day conflict between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza. By a vote of 24 states in favour,…

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Israel-Hamas ceasefire holds, U.N. to launch Gaza aid appeal

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas held into a fourth day on Monday as mediators spoke to all sides about extending the period of calm after the worst outbreak of…

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Israel reopens borders to small groups of foreign tourists

Israel reopened its borders to foreign tourists on Sunday after a fall in COVID-19 infections but said it would take time for visitors to start arriving and to revive the…

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UPDATED: Gaza ceasefire holding, Blinken to visit Israel, West Bank

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip held into Saturday as officials said Egyptian mediators conferred with the sides on securing longer-term calm. The ceasefire…

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UPDATED: Israel-Hamas truce takes hold after 11 days of fighting

A truce between Israel and Hamas took hold on Friday after the worst violence in years, with U.S. President Joe Biden pledging to salvage the devastated Gaza Strip and the…

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UPDATED – Israel and Hamas agree Gaza truce, to be monitored by Egypt

Israel and Hamas will cease fire across the Gaza Strip border as of 2 a.m. on Friday (2300 GMT Thursday), an official with the Palestinian Islamist faction said, bringing a…

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U.S. says no to French push for U.N. Mideast action

The U.S. mission to the United Nations said it "will not support actions that we believe undermine efforts to de-escalate" violence between Israel and Palestinian militants when asked about a…

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UPDATED: Renewed violence over Gaza despite ceasefire moves gaining speed

Diplomatic moves towards a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict gathered pace on Thursday after U.S. President Joe Biden called for a de-escalation, but Israel kept up its bombardment of Gaza…

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Biden tells Netanyahu he wants “de-escalation” of Israel-Gaza fighting

U.S. President Joe Biden pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to reduce tensions in the Gaza conflict on the path to a ceasefire, a White House spokeswoman said.…

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In first, Gaza logs no deaths from overnight Israeli strikes

Gaza health officials said on Tuesday they had no reports of Palestinians killed overnight in ongoing Israeli strikes on the enclave, the first apparent reduction of casualties since fighting erupted…

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Speaker Farrugia calls for the ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Malta's Speaker Anġlu Farrugia has called for the immediate ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. He has encouraged the two sides to revert to talks to find…

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Biden administration approved $735 million arms sale to Israel

President Joe Biden's administration approved the potential sale of $735 million in precision-guided weapons to Israel, and congressional sources said on Monday that U.S. lawmakers were not expected to object to the…

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