Israeli police arrested over 300 people on Tuesday as officers attempted to control crowds that had assembled at a religious site in northern Israel in violation of coronavirus restrictions.
Police said that despite regulations against large assemblies at Mount Meron and police checkpoints on roads near the site, hundreds of religious Jews turned up and some “threw stones and other objects a police officers at the scene”.
Jews observed the holiday of Lag B’Omer, on which ultra-Orthodox Jews customarily gather at the tomb of a prominent rabbi in antiquity on Mount Meron. Celebrations are typically marked with enormous crowds, dancing and the lighting of bonfires.
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Israelis marked the holiday in Jerusalem with large assemblies despite bans on public gatherings of more than 20 people due to the pandemic.
Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community has been hit especially hard by the coronavirus outbreak. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said earlier this week that around 70% of the country’s more than 16,500 confirmed cases were ultra-Orthodox, who make up around 12% of Israel’s population.
Israel started easing restrictions on movement and gathering earlier this month. Israel has reported 260 deaths from Covid-19. More than half of those infected in Israel have recovered.
The virus causes mild to moderate symptoms in most patients, who recover within a few weeks, but it can cause severe illness or death, particularly older people and those with underlying health problems.
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epa08360794 Palestinians walk in empty street inside al-Tujjar caravanserai in the West Bank city of Nablus, 13 April 2020. Nablus was closed due to the current novel coronavirus emergency after the Palestinian National Authority (PA) has imposed a new 14-day period of home confinement for all Palestinians living in the West Bank amid the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH -
epa08362541 Palestinians deliver food for patients and health workers at three quarantine centres in the West Bank city of Nablus, 14 April 2020. Nablus was closed due to the current novel coronavirus emergency after the Palestinian National Authority (PA) has imposed a new 14-day period of home confinement for all Palestinians living in the West Bank amid the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH -
A member of Palestinian Civil Defence wears a face shield as he takes part in a drill for dealing with coronavirus cases, amid concerns about the spread of the disease (COVID-19), in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 23, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman -
epa08362952 Palestinians fly a kite from their home roof over a neighborhood of the West Bank City of Nablus, 14 April 2020. Nablus was closed due to the current novel coronavirus emergency after the Palestinian National Authority (PA) has imposed a new 14-day period of home confinement for all Palestinians living in the West Bank amid the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH -
The head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Bethlehem Bishop Theofilactos leaves the Church of the Nativity to receive the Holy Fire as the ceremony is celebrated without a crowd due to the coronavirus disease restrictions in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 18, 2020. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma -
A Palestinian girl looks out of her family apartment during a home-confinement order imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 19, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman -
A Palestinian groom, Rafeh Qassim, wears a mask as he sits in a car with his bride on their wedding day amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 18, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY -
A member of Palestinian Civil Defence on a truck sprays disinfectants during a drill for dealing with coronavirus cases, amid concerns about the spread of the disease (COVID-19), in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 23, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman -
epa08380077 Medical staff of the Palestinian health ministry checks the temperature of workers crossing the checkpoint of Mitar, near the West Bank town of Hebron, 23 April 2020. The instructions of the National Authority Ministry of Health forbid gatherings and movement between cities to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the COVID-19 disease. EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN -
epa08380080 Medical staff of the Palestinian health ministry takes a swab sample from a worker crossing the checkpoint of Mitar, near the West Bank town of Hebron, 23 April 2020. The instructions of the National Authority Ministry of Health forbid gatherings and movement between cities to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes the COVID-19 disease. EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN -
Dr Hani Abdin, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the Palestinian Al-Quds University, speaks during an interview at the campus in Abu Dis in the West Bank on April 23, 2020, as he showcases a respirator device built on campus and certified by Palestinian health authorities. Al-Quds University announced on April 23 that the Palestinian Ministry of Health had approved the computerised artificial respiration apparatus built by the university in the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The university will launch its first devices for hospital use in the following week while working to register a patent. / AFP / ABBAS MOMANI -
Palestinians, wearing protective masks due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, pay for their shopping at the checkout counter of a supermarket on the last day before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, beginning later in the night, at a supermarket in the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on April 23, 2020. / AFP / HAZEM BADER -
Palestinian security officers look at an ostrich in a cage at the Qalqilya Zoo in the occupied West Bank, after the animal park was completely closed to visitors due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, on April 21, 2020. The zoo manager said the animals had started mating more due to the calm atmosphere, with the lack of visitors also improving their behaviour. The zoo is funded by the local municipality but faces a potential financial crisis with budget cuts. / AFP / JAAFAR ASHTIYEH -
Palestinians, some wearing protective masks, shop at a fruit and vegetables market during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on April 26, 2020. / AFP / ABBAS MOMANI -
Palestinian Reem Abu Ayyash shows a spoon filled with rice during a video call with her husband Rami, a nurse who treats the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients and has avoided his family during Ramadan out of fear of contagion, as she prepares to have her Iftar (breaking fast) meal with her daughter at their home near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 28, 2020. Picture taken April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY -
A Palestinian preacher speaks before a camera while recording a sermon and broadcasting the audio onto loudspeakers inside an empty mosque, due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in the village of Salem east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on April 24, 2020. / AFP / JAAFAR ASHTIYEH
