“Several days after the start of a second nationwide lockdown in Israel, the number of coronavirus infections has reached a new record high with nearly 7,000 cases. According to the health ministry’s statement on Wednesday, 6,923 new patients were recorded the day before. The previous record was reached last week, when 5,533 new cases were confirmed on a single day. Israel, a country of some nine million people, now has one of the world’s highest rates of coronavirus on a per capita basis, and health officials say hospitals are quickly approaching capacity. There were 61,165 tests conducted on Tuesday, meaning that 11.7 percent of the tests were positive, slightly higher than the previous day. The health ministry has instructed hospitals to delay non-essential surgeries and to open additional coronavirus wards as the number of serious cases continues to rise. The government last week imposed a nationwide lockdown that closed schools, shopping centres, hotels and restaurants. The cabinet is set to meet later on Wednesday to discuss further tightening restrictions.”

“Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has called for the immediate imposition of greater restrictions on the Israeli economy and on public activity, and will press the Coronavirus Cabinet to approve a plan significantly tightening Israel’s ongoing lockdown. Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel is facing a national health emergency, and that he intends to push the government to back a string of new rules clamping down on public activity during the lockdown.” Also See – “Likud Minister Request for Outside Legal Opinion on Curbing Protests Shot Down” (Haaretz); “Netanyahu to push for stricter lockdown, mulls declaring state of emergency” (Ynet)

“The so-called Coronavirus Cabinet, which leads the government’s response to the pandemic, failed on Tuesday to reach a decision on further restrictions on Israeli society and economy in a bid to rein in the spread of the pathogen. The Cabinet concluded the meeting after nine-hours-long deliberations that centered chiefly on whether to impose restrictions on protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that have been taking place outside of his Jerusalem residence while disregarding coronavirus regulations.”

“Of the 634 COVID-19 infections announced Tuesday, a majority were recorded in the capital, Amman. The country of 10 million has registered 5,679 COVID-19 cases and 33 deaths since the outbreak began. “The health minister urged people to abide by safety measures and social distancing, warning against the danger posed by gatherings and celebrations that flout safety measures,” state news agency Petra reported. The coronavirus has also spread to Jordan’s under-resourced and crowded refugee camps. Earlier this month, the United Nations refugee agency confirmed the virus was detected for the first time among Syrians living in refugee camps.”

“In mere weeks of the second wave gripping the country, Palestinian citizens went from constituting 10 percent of patients who tested positive to the virus, to 30 percent — and the curve is rising sharply. The English Hospital in Nazareth, which has traditionally treated mostly Palestinian citizens, has had to open another coronavirus clinic. The map of the outbreak is increasingly falling along ethnic, national, and geographic lines — just as poverty and crime have long been. Will we, Palestinian citizens, become Israel’s backyard for the coronavirus as well, such that the hardships we endure will barely matter to the country?”

“Although a system had been devised to divide patients among hospitals in order to spread the burden more evenly, that system has been failing in the wake of the sharp increase in patients. “The idea of distributing patients has become almost irrelevant,” said Dr. Rafael Strugo, medical director of Magen David Adom emergency service. “Recently we’re seeing more and more cases in which we are referred to a particular hospital, and on the way there we get a message: ‘No, don’t come to us, we have no room.’ They’re in distress,” said Strugo. “It has reached the situation that in some hospitals, security guards have been deployed to prevent the entry of ambulances with patients suspected of having COVID,” said a Magen David Adom official.”

“As the coronavirus continues to spread across the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), local news this week was inundated with warnings of testing kit shortages in the West Bank and Gaza, the latter of which has seen a worrying spike in cases recently. The Palestinian Minister of Health Mai al-Kalia told the Voice of Palestine radio on Tuesday that Israel “obstructed” the entry of 100,000 COVID-19 testing swabs that were destined for the West Bank in coordination with the United Nations (UN).  As a result, she said, the MOH will only have enough swabs to last them for three days, after which time the West Bank would run out of the testing kits. “

“The last Palestinian presidential election was held in January 2005, when Abbas was elected to succeed former PLO leader Yasser Arafat for a four-year term. The last parliamentary election, held exactly one year later, resulted in a Hamas victory. Some EU members have resumed their pressure on the PA leadership to move forward with election plans, a senior Palestinian official told The Jerusalem Post.”

“Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki said Tuesday that the PA will relinquish its role as temporary chairman of the current round of Arab League meetings in protest of the League’s refusal to condemn normalization with Israel. “I inform you today that the State of Palestine is relinquishing its chairmanship in this accursed round of meetings,” al-Maliki said on Tuesday. “Palestine refuses to record in its history that it presided over the moral degeneracy that was revealed in the last meeting…and the normalization steps that followed it, which were in essence a rejection of the work we did between the walls of the Arab League.”” Also See – “Palestinian diplomat: ‘No honor’ in Arab rush to normalization” (Al-Monitor)

“Palestinian security forces arrested more than half a dozen supporters of an exiled Palestinian politician who some have accused of involvement in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) deal to forge ties with Israel, a spokesman for his faction said. Mohammed Dahlan has lived in the UAE since being driven out of the Israeli-occupied West Bank in 2011 after a bitter row with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and his political party Fatah, of which Dahlan is a member…On 17 September, Dahlan called for elections to reshuffle Palestinian leadership, saying that Palestine “desperately needs to renew the legitimacy of its leadership.” “Those who are not elected by their people will not be able to lead and achieve national independence,” he wrote in a Facebook post. On Monday, seven members of Dahlan’s faction were arrested by security forces from Abbas’s PA, which has limited self-rule in the West Bank, according to Dahlan faction spokesman Imad Mohsen, who called the arrests “politically motivated”. The arrests were carried out in the West Bank and included Haytham al-Halabi and Salim Abu Safia, both senior members of Dahlan’s faction, a statement from the group said. In a statement, the Palestinian security forces said they had detained Halabi from a village near the West Bank city of Nablus as part of “a continuation of efforts to impose security and order”. The statement did not mention any other arrests. The PA’s interior ministry declined comment, Reuters reported.”

“Nayef Rajoub, former minister of endowments in the Hamas-run government and a Hamas leader in the West Bank, told Al-Monitor, “The movement welcomes any step to end the division and bless any effort in this direction. Yet our experience with the PA has been bitter. Numerous agreements were signed with the PA in the presence of regional and international witnesses. Every time, the PA would circumvent what was agreed upon. Based on that, we need to see how it is going to act on the ground in order for the Palestinian street to be reassured and see that it is being serious in overcoming differences and divide.”…Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the West Bank in February, the PA has summoned and arrested Hamas activists across the territory and investigated with some into their social media posts. That has prompted Shaker Amara, a prominent Hamas leader in the West Bank, to describe such a policy as an act of sabotage of national efforts and a consolidation of the divide. However, Ehud Hamo, a correspondent for Israeli Channel 12 in the West Bank, revealed in a Sept. 16 report that the PA leadership issued instructions to its security forces in the past days following the signing of the Arab normalization deals with Israel in Washington not to arrest any Hamas member unless it is an extreme, sensitive case.”

“Senior Israeli security officials have recently warned politicians that the economic crisis in the Palestinian Authority is worsening, and that it could lead to an outbreak of violence. The officials believe that Israel and the PA must find a solution to renew the security cooperation between them, which will make it easier for the Palestinians to deal with the consequences of the coronavirus in the West Bank – difficulties that the officials called the “worst there in the last decade.”…The security establishment says that the scenario of the PA’s collapse – and ensuing riots – has become more likely, although it is not expected soon. In closed-door conversations, security officials told politicians that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has decided to avoid a clash with Israel, making him the “ideal” Palestinian leader in Israel’s eyes. Israel should seek to reach understandings with him, they explained.”

“Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with Pentagon chief Mark Esper and other senior US officials during a visit to Washington, a week after Israel normalized relations with the UAE and Bahrain at a White House ceremony. The Emirates has expressed hopes that the normalization agreement will make it easier to push through the sale of the advanced planes, which could impinge on Israel’s military edge in the region…Gantz also discussed the sale of the planes with senior presidential adviser Jared Kushner, a key architect of the normalization deals with the UAE and Bahrain. Gantz and Kushner discussed “furthering additional accords as an instrument for ensuring regional stability and protecting Israel’s security, while maintaining Israel’s qualitative edge throughout the process,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement” Als0 See – “Gantz Meets Kushner in Washington Discusses Israel’s Military Edge, Additional Peace Deals” (Haaretz); “Gantz in US talks of Iran, Israel’s QME in shadow of F-35 sales to UAE” (Jerusalem Post)

“…With that in mind Washington is studying ways to make the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 more visible to Israeli radar systems, two sources said. Reuters could not determine if this would be done by changing the jet or providing Israel with better radar, among other possibilities. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz was due to meet his US counterpart Mark Esper in Washington on Tuesday.”

“US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman on Wednesday said it would likely take six to seven years before the United Arab Emirates receives the F-35 stealth fighter jet, under a contentious proposed arms sale that has raised concerns in Israel over its potential to damage the country’s military edge in the region. “The Emiratis have been trying to get the F-35 for six or seven years. The delivery time is probably another six or seven years from now, if they got [approval to purchase the aircraft],” Friedman said in an interview during the Jerusalem Post newspaper’s conference.” Also See – “Friedman to ‘Post’: If UAE gets F-35s, it will be in six or seven years” (Jerusalem Post)

“Sudan’s new civilian-led government is urgently seeking to be removed from the US blacklist of “state sponsors of terrorism”, and is seen by Washington as open to becoming the latest Arab state to recognise Israel – a significant cause for President Donald Trump’s electoral base.” Also See – “US eyes breakthrough on Sudan-Israel deal before election” (Arutz Sheva)

“An Israeli airliner flew to the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain on Wednesday, in an indicator that normalisation between the two countries is becoming firmly established. Tracking data from the FlightRadar24 showed an Israir Airlines jet from Tel Aviv flew over Saudi Arabia to reach Bahrain, just days after the two countries inked a normalisation accord backed by the United States. According to Israel’s Jerusalem Post, senior government officials were on the plane. ” Also See – “Top Israeli officials fly to Bahrain to hammer out normalization treaty” (The Times of Israel)

“The situation is such that the prime minister alone conducted all the communication and holds exclusive political responsibility for the agreements signed. This, together with Netanyahu’s unstable political and legal circumstances, gives many reason to believe that Golan’s doubts should be aired. The more time that passes since Netanyahu signed his name on a full normalization agreement with the UAE and one with Bahrain, on the White House lawn — the more the prime minister has come under attack. His opponents attribute personal, secret motives to him, motives that do not necessarily serve Israel’s national interests. For example, the fact that the agreements have not been discussed in any forum — whether binding or not — of the Knesset and the government lends itself to a sense that transparency is lacking. The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, the government and the State Security Cabinet — none of these entities have discussed the agreements.”

“Israel and five other states signed a charter for an Egypt-based energy forum on Tuesday, giving formal status to a group that seeks to promote natural gas exports from the eastern Mediterranean, and that Israel hopes will strengthen ties with its Arab neighbors. In a virtual ceremony hosted by Cairo, Egypt, Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Jordan established the East Mediterranean Gas Forum as an intergovernmental organization. The group unites regional rivals of Turkey, which has been locked in a bitter dispute with European Union members Greece and Cyprus over gas drilling rights in the region. The Palestinian Authority is also part of the forum, Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said in a statement. France has applied to join, with the United States and European Union requesting observer status.”

“Israeli medtech start-up Sure Universal Ltd. will be partnering with HBK Department of Projects (HBK DOP) to launch a white label smart Internet of Things (IOT) healthcare solution to the UAE and Middle East markets, Sure announced on Tuesday. It will mark the first joint product launch between the UAE and an Israeli technology company, following the signing of the Abraham Accords.”

“The first of the forum’s two virtual sessions focused on the isolation of Gaza in the context of Israel’s annexationist vision for the West Bank, as well as the deliberate separation between Gaza and the West Bank that underpins this vision. Gisha Director of International Relations Beth Oppenheim moderated a panel featuring Abier Al-Masri, Gaza Research Assistant at Human Rights Watch, Dr Yael Berda, Assistant Professor in Sociology & Anthropology at Hebrew University and visiting lecturer at Harvard University, and Dr Nathalie Tocci, director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali in Rome and a special advisor to EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell.”

“The second of the forum’s two virtual sessions focused on the economic and humanitarian situation in Palestine, particularly in the Strip. We honed in on the pandemic and on the suspension of coordination by the Palestinian Authority, as well as travel restrictions imposed by Israel at Erez Crossing since the onset of the pandemic which have had severe ramifications for the Palestinian economy, as well as for the fundamental rights of Gaza residents. Gisha Executive Director Tania Hary moderated a panel featuring Majd Mashharawi, an entrepreneur from Gaza and the founder and CEO of SunBox, Jamie McGoldrick, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and also Resident Humanitarian Coordinator, and Bader Rock, Legal and Economic Policy Advisor at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.”

“The tires of a police vehicle were slashed overnight Tuesday during operations in the flashpoint West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, police said, just hours after rocks were thrown at a different vehicle used by officers, smashing a window.“Once again, we are witnessing attempts by lawbreakers to harm security forces working to enforce law and order in the area,” police said.”

“The number of settler housing starts dropped by 50% in the second quarter of 2020, which coincided with the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing the tally to its lowest point in eight years, according to Central Bureau of Statistics data. It’s a sharper decline than the 29% drop nationwide during the same time period. Put in real numbers, ground was broken for 316 settler housing units from January to March of this year, compared to 158 starts from April to June. Together, they represent a 44.4% decline in the number of starts for the first six months of this year, when compared to the first half of last year. The decline comes as settlers have complained of a de facto freeze in planning for settlement homes. At issue in particular for the settlers is the fact that the Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria has not met since February. Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to immediately open up the bottleneck on settler building plans.”

“US President Donald Trump touted himself as a “peacemaker” at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, citing the signing of normalisation accords between Israel and two Gulf Arab nations and efforts to wind down the war in Afghanistan. Speaking at the annual UN General Assembly via video conference, Trump delivered a short speech highlighting the US’ withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the killing of former Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the normalisation agreements signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. “After decades of no progress, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, all signed a historic peace agreement in the White House, with many other Middle Eastern countries to come,” Trump said. “They are coming fast and they know it’s great for them, and it’s great for the world. These groundbreaking peace deals are the dawn of the new Middle East.” The deals make the UAE and Bahrain the third and fourth Arab states to take such steps since Israel signed peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.” Also See – “Trump hails Israel-UAE-Bahrain peace deals ‘dawn of a new Middle East’ at UNGA” (Ynet)

“A planned speech by a Palestinian terrorist at a virtual event hosted by San Francisco State University suffered a setback Tuesday after Zoom reportedly pulled the plug on hosting the event amid a public outcry…“In light of the speaker’s reported affiliation or membership in a U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization, and SFSU’s inability to confirm otherwise, we determined the meeting is in violation of Zoom’s Terms of Service and told SFSU they may not use Zoom for this particular event,” Zoom said in a statement to the The Lawfare Project legal aid organization.”