Harry Fawcett

Pales­tini­ans have long ac­cused Is­rael of an un­de­clared, creep­ing form of an­nex­a­tion on the ground.

There is wor­ry Gaza’s health­care sys­tem, al­ready crip­pled by Is­rael’s block­ade of the Pales­tin­ian ter­ri­to­ry, will not be able to cope if the dis­ease be­comes wide­spread.

The Is­raeli re­stric­tion is one of many in re­sponse to in­cen­di­ary bal­loon launch­es and rock­et fire from the be­sieged strip.

Vi­o­lence in West Jerusalem as thou­sands of pro­test­ers call on Is­raeli Prime Min­is­ter Ben­jamin Ne­tanyahu to re­sign over cor­rup­tion charges and his han­dling of the coro­n­avirus pan­dem­ic.

The mu­nic­i­pal­i­ty says the in­ten­tion with Sil­i­con Wadi is to im­prove em­ploy­ment and liv­ing stan­dards.

As the July 1 start date set by Prime Min­is­ter Ben­jamin Ne­tanyahu ap­proach­es, a work­able plan re­mains un­clear.

Con­struc­tion is un­der way on con­tro­ver­sial road, which is part of a wide-rang­ing plan to cut the east­ern half of the city off from oc­cu­pied West Bank.

Protests in oc­cu­pied East Jerusalem against killing of Iyad el-Hal­lak, an autis­tic Pales­tin­ian man, by Is­raeli po­lice.

Wor­ship­pers have been asked to wear face masks and bring their prayer mats.

The US-Is­raeli an­nex­a­tion map­ping team is due to fin­ish its work by the end of June.