The situation in the Gaza Strip:
The number of active Covid-19 cases in Gaza decreased this past week but is still high (8,717, down from 10,647 a week ago).
There are 340 patients in ICUs, 188 in serious or critical condition.
The central laboratory resumed operations after receiving the necessary testing materials. However,
the number of daily tests is low because the laboratory is using the materials sparingly. Reportedly,
the small number of tests was one of the reasons behind the decline in the number of cases publicly reported by the Hamas administration, but the actual number is greater.
There is still a shortage of medical equipment, including beds for Covid-19 patients. Senior figures in the health system said
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The Walla news site reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to appoint Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz as the next US ambassador in place of Gilad Erdan, who is supposed to take up the role in addition to the UN envoy position he already holds.
Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
According to the outlet, Netanyahu is meeting with Erdan, and giving him the choice of choosing which position he wants to keep and which he wants Steinitz to have.
Steinitz has been closely involved in US and UN-brokered negotiations with Lebanon over a maritime border dispute.
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There’s no official word yet on the government’s reported decision to walk back its plans for Hanukkah restrictions.
However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasts on Twitter that Israel has “among the lowest death rates among coronavirus sufferers in the world.”
“We made the right decisions, saved many lives, and that’s what we will continue to do,” he says, without detailing what decisions he is referring to.
He attaches a chart of unknown provenance showing death rates of coronavirus sufferers, showing Israel as the second-lowest of a handful of countries, beaten only by Iceland.
שיעור התמותה בין נדבקי הקורונה בישראל הוא מהנמוכים בעולם. קיבלנו את ההחלטות הנכונות, הצלנו חיים רבים, וזה מה שנמשיך לעשות. pic.twitter.com/2lwQU7xEes