JERUSALEM: Israel’s health minister, who has had frequent contact with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials, has the new coronavirus, the Health Ministry announced Thursday.
Yaakov Litzman and his wife, who also has contracted the virus, are in isolation, feel well and are being treated, the statement said. Requests to enter isolation will be sent to those who came in contact with the minister in the past two weeks, the announcement said.
The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency and the National Security Council were asked to go into isolation because of their contacts with Litzman. Netanyahu had gone into isolation previously after a top aide tested positive for the virus, but Netanyahu has so far tested negative.
Israel has gone into near-lockdown to try to contain the virus outbreak.
Israel’s large, insular Ultra-Orthodox community, of which Litzman is a member, has been particularly hard hit by infections. In the early phases of the outbreak, some rabbis had pushed back or ignored government-mandated movement restrictions, but resistance appears to have diminished.
Israel has reported just over 6,000 confirmed cases of infection with the new coronavirus, and 26 people have died of COVID-19.
Israel’s health minister has virus, top officials to isolate
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Israel’s health minister has virus, top officials to isolate
- Israel has gone into near-lockdown to try to contain the virus outbreak
- Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox community, of which Yaakov Litzman is a member, has been particularly hard hit by infections
Syrian authorities find Assad-era mass grave near Damascus
- Authorities are identifying the victims and investigating a suspected mass grave linked to the former Assad regime
- Nearly 177,000 people have been forcibly disappeared in Syria since March 2011
LONDON: The Syrian Civil Defense reported that the remains of 14 individuals were found in the Adra industrial area, northeast of Damascus, during excavation for mill foundations in the area.
Search teams coordinated recovery operations at the site with the National Commission for the Missing, the public prosecutor, and security authorities, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
The National Mine Action Center surveyed the area to ensure that it was clear of land mines and found the bones of four individuals scattered by prior digging. They later recovered the remains of 10 more individuals.
The remains were documented and collected in accordance with forensic procedures. Authorities are identifying the victims and investigating a suspected mass grave linked to the former Assad regime.
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, nearly 177,000 people have been forcibly disappeared in Syria since March 2011.
