Middle East & North Africa

BAGHDAD, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi authorities decided on Thursday to ease COVID-19 restrictive measures and replace full curfew with a partial one to facilitate the vaccination campaign, as the country's total caseload reached 1,132,092.

A statement by the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety headed by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said the committee decided to impose a curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time instead of the 10-day full curfew imposed earlier in the week.

JERUSALEM (AP) — In the 1980s, Rabbi Meir Kahane’s violent anti-Arab ideology was considered so repugnant that Israel banned him from parliament and the U.S. listed his party as a terrorist group.

Today, his disciples march through the streets by the hundreds, chanting “Death to Arabs” and assaulting any they come across. This week, they took part in a wave of communal violence in Jerusalem and mixed cities across Israel in which Arabs and Jews viciously attacked people and torched cars.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Just weeks ago, the Gaza Strip’s feeble health system was struggling with a runaway surge of coronavirus cases. Authorities cleared out hospital operating rooms, suspended nonessential care and redeployed doctors to patients having difficulty breathing.

Then, the bombs began to fall.

This week’s violence between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers has killed 103 Palestinians, including 27 children, and wounded 530 people in the impoverished territory. Israeli airstrikes have pounded apartments, blown up cars and toppled buildings.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli artillery pounded northern Gaza early Friday in an attempt to destroy a vast network of militant tunnels inside the territory, the military said, bringing the front lines closer to dense civilian areas and paving the way for a potential ground invasion.

CAIRO, May 13. /TASS/: Israel has carried out an airstrike on the home of Hamas Political Bureau Head Ismail Haniyeh in the city of Gaza, the Al Arabiya TV channel reported on Thursday.

According to the TV channel, Haniyeh was absent from his home at the time of the attack.

Palestine’s Wafa news agency reported earlier that Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip had severely damaged civilian infrastructure facilities and destroyed a six-floor residential building.

12 May 2021; MEMO: Turkey cancelled an invitation calling on Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz to attend the Antalya Diplomacy Forum following the recent Israeli attacks on Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem and Gaza, Anadolu Agency reported.

Israel was informed of the cancellation through the Embassy of Turkey in Tel Aviv.

13 May 2021; MEMO: Shocking live footage showed a gang of Jewish extremists dragging a motorist who looked Palestinian from his car and beating him unconscious, according to the Guardian.

The attack took place in a district in Tel Aviv.

The emergency services including the police and an ambulance arrived at the scene 15 minutes later, whilst the victim lay bloodied and motionless on the ground.

12 May 2021; MEMO: The abuse Israeli forces are inflicting on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank "stem[s] from a decades-long pattern of Israeli authorities using excessive and vastly disproportionate force to quell protests and disturbances by Palestinians, often resulting in serious injury and loss of life", Human Rights Watch said yesterday.

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisian authorities plan to reopen the economy next week amid public pushback against virus restrictions, even as the country’s hospitals are struggling for enough oxygen to treat a persistently high number of COVID-19 patients.

Tunisia shut down shops and restaurants and banned all sports and cultural events last week as the prime minister warned that the health system risked collapsing. Houses of prayer were also closed – including for the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan that starts Thursday.

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian delegation is in Tel Aviv for talks with Israeli officials as part of efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the escalating conflict with Gaza, Egyptian intelligence officials said Thursday.

The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to brief the media. The same delegation met with Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip first, they said, and crossed into Israel by land. Egypt has played a mediating role in the past between the sides.