Israel

EPA’s Eye in the Sky: The Dead Sea, Israel

People on salt formations in the Ein Bokek beach at the hotels resort of one of Israel's major tourist attractions, the Dead Sea, Israel. Via EPA-EFE/ABIR SULTAN

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Israel and UAE foreign ministers to meet in Germany

The foreign ministers of Israel and the United Arab Emirates will meet in Germany on Tuesday to discuss further steps in normalizing relations, officials said on Monday. Israel and the…

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Photo Story: Sukkot holiday during a lockdown in Jerusalem

An orthodox Jew covers his heads with a prayer shawl and holds the 'four species' while reciting the Priestly Blessing on the high holiday of Sukkot, the Feast of the…

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The real ‘picture’ of Coronavirus

Medical personnel wearing a full protective suit rests at the coronavirus COVID-19 department at the Galilee Hospital, in the northern city of Nahariya as family members mourn the loss of…

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Israel limits protests in new coronavirus lockdown law

Israel’s parliament approved a government-backed edict on Wednesday likely to stifle protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged corruption and his handling of the coronavirus crisis. The legislation, ratified…

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Israel tightens coronavirus lockdown as infections rise

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet decided on Thursday to tighten Israel's coronavirus lockdown after he voiced alarm that a surge in infections was pushing the nation to "the edge of…

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Dubai’s Habtoor Group to open representative office in Israel

Dubai conglomerate Al Habtoor Group is to open a representative office in Israel, it said on Sunday. The United Arab Emirates and Israel last week agreed to establish bilateral diplomatic…

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Israel, Dubai diamond exchanges begin strategic collaboration

The Israel and Dubai diamond exchanges said on Thursday they have signed a strategic agreement to promote cooperation and dialogue between the two bourses. The agreement was announced two days…

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Israel’s El Al to resume some passenger flights in October

El Al Israel Airlines said on Thursday it would resume some passenger flights in October, a day after the cash-strapped carrier raised $148 million in a state-mandated share offering. Israel's…

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Israeli aircraft strike in Gaza, sirens in southern Israel

Israeli aircraft attacked in Gaza on Wednesday, witnesses said, and sirens warning of rocket fire from the Palestinian territory sounded in southern Israel. The witnesses said a training base run…

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UAE and Bahrain sign U.S.-brokered deals with Israel, breaking longtime taboo

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed agreements on Tuesday for normalizing relations with Israel, becoming the latest Arab states to break a longstanding taboo in a strategic realignment of…

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Trump willing to sell arms systems to other countries in Middle East

US President Donald Trump said he would be willing to sell other countries in the Middle East the same weapons systems sold to Israel, noting the region's wealth and saying…

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UAE and Bahrain to sign ‘normalisation’ agreement with Israel

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on Tuesday will become the latest Arab states to break a longstanding taboo when they sign agreements toward normalizing relations with Israel in a…

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Israel to lock down nationwide in main holiday season amid COVID-19 surge

Israel will enter a three-week nationwide lockdown starting on Friday to contain the spread of the coronavirus after a second- wave surge of new cases, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said…

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Hungary says it will be only EU country to send minister to Israel-UAE accord signing

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto will be the only EU diplomatic leader to attend the signing ceremony on Tuesday in Washington for the Israel-United Arab Emirates peace deal, his spokesman…

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Israel to impose three-week nationwide lockdown – reports

Israel’s government has approved the imposition of a three-week nationwide lockdown, starting on Friday, to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Israel’s Ynet news website and Channel 12 television reported…

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Bahrain opposition rejects Israel normalisation, calls for resistance

Bahraini opposition groups have said they reject a decision by the Gulf state to normalise relations with Israel, with a leading Shi'ite cleric on Sunday calling on the people of…

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Bahrain follows Emirates in normalizing ties with Israel

Bahrain joined the United Arab Emirates in agreeing to normalize relations with Israel on Friday, a move forged partly through shared fears of Iran but one that could leave the…

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Trump says another country could join Israel-UAE accord

U.S. President Donald Trump said it was possible another country could soon join a diplomatic accord between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Trump is to host a signing ceremony…

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Palestinians win Saudi support but no Arab condemnation of UAE-Israel deal

Palestinian leaders won renewed Saudi support for Palestinian statehood at a Wednesday meeting, but did not persuade the Arab League to condemn last month’s normalisation deal between Israel and the…

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Israel sees trade with UAE at $4 billion a year

Annual trade between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is expected to reach $4 billion, an Israeli minister said. Israel and the UAE announced in August they would normalise diplomatic…

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Photo Story: Selfie Masks against the coronavirus in Tel Aviv

'Selfie masks' - custom made protective face masks printed from face photos - with a slogan (in Hebrew) reading: 'Follow the instructions and also the look' at a shopping stand…

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Trump to host Israel-United Arab Emirates deal-signing ceremony on September 15

U.S. President Donald Trump will hold a Sept. 15 signing ceremony for a groundbreaking Middle East agreement normalizing relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, a senior White House…

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Saudi King wants to achieve fair solution to Palestinian issue

U.S. President Donald Trump told Saudi Arabia's King Salman in a phone call that he welcomed the opening of Saudi airspace to flights between Israel and the United Arab Emirates…

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European Nations League Roundup

Italy were held by Bosnia-Herzegovina, Poland beaten by the Netherlands while the Czech Republic beat neighbours Slovakkia. This is a round up of the results of the matches held on…

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Israel announces partial national lockdown after coronavirus surge

Israel will impose a partial national lockdown next week to battle a coronavirus infection surge, the head of its pandemic task force said on Thursday, shouting his exasperation in an…

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Hamas and Israel reach agreement to end cross-border bombing

Palestinian militant groups and Israel agreed to end a weeks-long escalation of unrest along the Israel-Gaza border, Gaza's ruling Islamist group Hamas and Israel said on Monday. Under the deal, brokered by…

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Hamas announce deal to end escalation of violence with Israel

Hamas, the Palestinian group running the besieged Gaza Strip, has announced it has reached a Qatari-mediated deal to end the latest escalation of violence with Israel. Al Jazeera reports that…

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First-ever direct Israel – UAE commercial flight held today

A high-ranking US and Israeli delegation went to Abu Dhabi in the first-ever direct commercial passenger flight to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The El Al flight, numbered LY971 as…

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Senior Israeli Finance Ministry official resigns over Covid-19 management

A senior Israeli Finance Ministry official resigned on Sunday and said the government was grossly mishandling the fallout from the coronavirus crisis by making "short-sighted" decisions and ignoring economic norms.…

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Israel – UAE relations ‘normalisation’ ceremony for September

Israel hopes to hold a signing ceremony in Washington for its normalisation deal with the United Arab Emirates by mid-September, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet said on…

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UAE cancels Israel boycott, allows economic agreements – state news agency

The president of the United Arab Emirates has issued a decree cancelling a law on boycotting Israel and allowing trade and financial agreements between the two countries, the UAE official…

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El Al Airlines to fly Israel’s first direct flight to UAE

El Al Airlines on Monday will fly Israel's first flight to the United Arab Emirates by a commercial carrier, a timetable on the Israel Airports Authority's website showed, as the…

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Gaza man dies of coronavirus as enclave clamps down on outbreak

A 61-year-old man has died in the Gaza Strip after contracting the coronavirus, Palestinian authorities said on Wednesday as they clamped down on an outbreak of the pandemic in the…

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Photo Story: Sinkholes form in the Dead Sea area in Israel

A huge sinkhole in the parking lot of the abandoned and closed 'Mineral Beach' at the Dead Sea, Israel. The beach was closed to the public after the appearance of…

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Israel strikes targets in Lebanon and Gaza

Israeli aircraft struck posts belonging to the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah early on Wednesday after shots were fired from Lebanon towards its troops, Israel's military said in a statement. No…

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Israelis dodge COVID-19 tracking with airplane mode and prepaid SIMs

Israel’s cellphone surveillance for coronavirus contact-tracing may have overcome challenges by privacy watchdogs, but the state tracking policy is hard put to deal with low-tech evasion methods seemingly lifted from…

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Photo Story: Trove of gold coins unearthed in central Israel

Pictures made available on 24 August 2020 show a hoard of 423 gold coins dating to the Abbasid dynasty that were discovered at an archaeological site in Centre Israel on…

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Morocco rejects normalizing ties with Israel

Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Dine El Otmani on Sunday rejected any normalization of relations with Israel. “We refuse any normalisation with the Zionist entity because this emboldens it to go…

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Saudi price for ties with Israel is Palestinian state – Saudi royal

Saudi Arabia's price for normalising relations with Israel is the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, a senior member of the Saudi royal family said.…

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Israeli protesters, decrying corruption, keep pressure on Netanyahu

Thousands of Israelis protested in Jerusalem on Saturday night against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the summer outcry denouncing alleged corruption and the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic showed…

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UAE could get F-35 jets in side agreement to Israel peace deal

The United States is eyeing the sale of stealthy F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates in a side agreement to the UAE's overtures to Israel, an industry insider…

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Photo Story: Historic Joint German-Israeli exercise Blue Wing 2020

Handout photos made available by the German Armed Forces Bundeswehr shows two Eurofighters of the tactical air squadron TaktLwG 31 'B' and two Multi-Purpose Fighter Aircraft of the type F-15C/D…

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Trump expects Saudi Arabia to join UAE-Israel deal

U.S. President Donald Trump said he expected Saudi Arabia to join the agreement announced last week by Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalize diplomatic ties and forge a…

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Israel’s President invites UAE’s de facto leader

Israel’s president on Monday invited the United Arab Emirates’ de facto leader to visit Jerusalem, praising his role in achieving a “noble and courageous” deal to normalise relations between Israel…

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Israel says it expects Bahrain and Oman to follow UAE in formalising ties

Bahrain and Oman could be the next Gulf countries to follow the United Arab Emirates in formalising ties with Israel, Israel’s intelligence minister said on Sunday. Israel and the UAE…

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EU welcomes Israel – UAE agreement

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell welcomed a deal to normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates partly brokered by the United States, Politico reports. But Borrell also…

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UAE’s Israel deal met with Arab dismay but quiet welcome in Gulf

From cries of "betrayal" to fears about "falling dominoes", the deal making the United Arab Emirates the third Arab state to forge ties with Israel stirred anger and dismay around…

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Iran’s president says Emirates made ‘huge mistake’ with Israel deal

The United Arab Emirates has made a "huge mistake" in reaching a deal toward normalising ties with Israel, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday in a speech furiously condemning…

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UAE says Israel agreement removes time-bomb of annexation

The United Arab Emirates became the first Gulf Arab country to reach a deal on normalising relations with Israel on Thursday, securing an Israeli commitment to halt further annexations of…

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UAE and Israel agree to establish full diplomatic ties – Trump

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United Arab Emirates and Israel have agreed to establish full diplomatic ties as part of a deal to halt the annexation of…

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Israel closes Gaza crossing after Palestinians launch incendiary balloons

Israel on Tuesday closed one of its main border crossings with the Gaza Strip after Palestinians launched incendiary balloons that set fire to areas on the Israeli frontier. Israeli media reported that more than 30 fires…

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Thousands protest against Netanyahu over COVID-19, corruption allegations

Thousands of Israelis rallied outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem on Saturday as anger mounted against him over alleged corruption and an economic crisis fuelled by the coronavirus.…

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Israel institute to start COVID-19 vaccine trials in humans soon

An Israeli research institute that is overseen by the Defence Ministry intends to begin human trials for a potential COVID-19 vaccine as early as October, Defence Minister Benny Gantz announced.…

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Tensions on Israel-Syrian border in the Golan Heights

Four Syrian militants had been reportedly killed in the early morning of Monday by Israeli soldiers. According to an Israeli military spokesperson, Israeli soldiers thwarted an attempt to place improvised…

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Netanyahu condemns protests against him, criticises media

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck back on Sunday at demonstrations calling for his resignation, accusing protesters of trampling democracy and the Israeli media of encouraging them. Netanyahu, who was sworn…

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Israel’s “Bibi generation” starts to turn on Netanyahu over economy and COVID-19

For two months, many Israeli television viewers watched nightly as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued warnings and updates about the novel coronavirus and imposed lockdowns. When infections fell, he went…

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