Middle East & North Africa

JERUSALEM, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Supreme Court on Monday ordered the parliament to hold a vote for electing a new speaker, in a move widely seen as a blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to hold on to power.

A three-justice panel criticized Parliament Speaker Yuli Edelstein, a Netanyahu ally, for shutting down parliament for five days and refusing to hold a vote to elect a new speaker.

The panel, headed by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Esther Hayut, unanimously ruled that Edelstein must hold the vote no later than Wednesday.

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrians rushed to stock up on food and fuel Monday amid fears that authorities would resort to even stricter measures after reporting the first coronavirus infection in the country, where the health care system has been decimated by nearly a decade of civil war.

The arrival of the global pandemic in Syria as well as the Gaza Strip has raised concerns it could run rampant in some of the most vulnerable areas in the Middle East. War-torn Libya and Yemen, which have yet to report any cases, are also a source of concern.

23 Mar 2020; MEMO: Israel’s Public Prosecution Service has rejected a request to delay the detention of Sheikh Raed Salah who is due to go back into prison on 25 March, Arab48.com reported on Sunday.

The veteran Palestinian rights activist was given a 28-month prison sentence by the Magistrates’ Court in Haifa for remarks that he made at a funeral in 2017.

23 Mar 2020; MEMO: A World Health Organisation delegation arrived in the Gaza Strip on Sunday to assess the situation after the Gazan health ministry announced that two people have tested positive for coronavirus, the Palestinian news agency Shehab reported.

Headed by the director of the WHO office in Palestine, Gerald Rockenschaub, the delegation

entered Gaza through the Erez Crossing.

23 Mar 2020; MEMO: Qatar will be sending $150 million in aid to the besieged Gaza Strip to support United Nations humanitarian programmes and efforts to help combat the new coronavirus outbreak, the state-run Qatari Committee to Rebuild Gaza announced on Twitter today.

23 Mar 2020; MEMO: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected an American offer on Sunday to help his country in its battle against the coronavirus, news agencies have reported. Khamenei announced this in a televised speech marking the Persian New Year, calling America Iran’s “number one” enemy.

23 Mar 2020; MEMO: Iran’s Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Education announced on Sunday that his medical teams have tested 33 million people for coronavirus. Saeed Namaki told journalists in Tehran that 40,000 members of the ministry’s medical staff were involved in the process.

23 Mar 2020; MEMO: UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory said that there can be frightening consequences of coronavirus in Gaza Strip that is under the Israeli blockade, Anadolu Agency reports.

Jamie McGoldrick told UN News that a possible COVID-19 outbreak in Gaza can be terrible due to the long-term blockade, over population, and limited health facilities in the region.

23 Mar 2020; MEMO: Saudi Arabia will impose a three-week curfew as of Monday as part of the fight against the novel coronavirus, according to the official SPA news agency, Anadolu reports.

The curfew will start 7 p.m. local time until 6 a.m. (1600-0300 GMT) for three weeks under a royal decree issued by King Salman.

The royal order urged citizens to stay at their homes to help efforts aimed at stemming the spread of the virus.

23 Mar 2020; MEMO: The Head of the Hamas Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, has called on Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Bin Abdulaziz to release Palestinians being held in his country’s prisons, fearing for their lives from the spread of the coronavirus, Anadolu has reported.