Israel "shuts down its skies" to curb the spread of Covid-19

Israel this Sunday evening decreed the suspension, for nearly a week, of international flights as part of new health measures aimed at limiting the spread of Covid-19 variants.

Read also: Covid-19: Israel extends vaccination to adolescents

The Hebrew state may have already vaccinated 2.5 of its nine million inhabitants in the last month, January saw the number of cases of contamination explode again due in particular to non-compliance, according to health authorities, physical distancing measures by part of the population.

In the process, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday asked his cabinet to approve new strengthened health measures in a country where businesses deemed non-essential are already closed.

However this time, the government decided to also crack down on travelers by decreeing that flights - from and to Israel - would be banned from midnight overnight from Monday to Tuesday until January 31, the scheduled date of the end of containment measures.

"

," Netanyahu said in front of his ministers.

Exceptions

The Hebrew state had already indicated that in recent weeks it had identified cases of the British variant of Covid-19, considered more contagious, which has also been detected in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health authorities.

However, according to a statement from the Israeli Ministry of Health, cargo flights will be allowed.

Also, people who have to go abroad for medical follow-up, do "

", move or attend funerals with their families, will be allowed to travel, authorities said. without specifying for the moment how these travelers were going to be able to leave the country.

Already, travelers authorized to travel to Israel had since this weekend to present a negative test (72 hours or less) before taking the plane or to present proof that they have been vaccinated against Covid-19.