Israel Begins Exit From Third Virus Lockdown

Israelis have begun returning to hair salons after a tough third lockdown - AFP
Israelis have begun returning to hair salons after a tough third lockdown - AFP
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Israel Begins Exit From Third Virus Lockdown

Israelis have begun returning to hair salons after a tough third lockdown - AFP
Israelis have begun returning to hair salons after a tough third lockdown - AFP

Israeli barbershops and some other businesses reopened Sunday as the country began easing its third coronavirus lockdown amid an aggressive vaccination campaign.

The government had announced Friday it was lifting some restrictions imposed since December, when the country saw a rise in Covid-19 infections.

While shops were not formally permitted to open, many small stores were making transactions with clients standing outside.

Since December, more than 3.4 million of Israel's nine million people have received a coronavirus vaccine jab in what is seen as the world's fastest per-capita campaign.

Despite the inoculations, Israel has been registering a daily average of 6,500 new Covid-19 cases, down from around 8,000 in mid-January.

A strict nationwide lockdown in force since December 27 was extended four times to combat the infection rate, but January was the deadliest month yet, with more than 1,000 Covid-19 fatalities.

But as of Sunday, Israelis were no longer restricted to within one kilometre (1,000 yards) of their homes, AFP reported.

Hair and beauty salons were allowed to have one person providing a service to one client, while nature reserves and national parks reopened.

Hotels remained shut and restaurants were allowed to cater only for takeaways, while guesthouses could only host members of the same nuclear family.

A suspension of international flights will remain in place until February 20, along with the closure of Israel's land borders.

Israelis stranded abroad will be able to return on special flights.

The cabinet met later Sunday to plan the further relaxing of limitations, especially in the educational system set to reopen Tuesday morning.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Israelis aged 50 and over to get vaccinated, while warning people to not drop their guard as virus limitations were removed.

"Relaxing the lockdown does not mean that the rise in morbidity is behind us. To the contrary, it isn't, it's still around and in full force," he said in remarks relayed by his office.

"We can't become complacent, we can't be irresponsible, or the numbers will simply rise and exact a huge toll, including lives."

The government also increased fines for businesses or schools operating in violation of the restrictions.

Many ultra-Orthodox institutions had opened during the lockdown in defiance of instructions, and some frustrated entrepreneurs have announced they will reopen their businesses even before the lockdown is entirely lifted.

Israel has registered a total of more than 687,000 cases of Covid-19, including over 5,000 deaths.



Chinese Ship Runs Aground Off Philippines-occupied Island in Disputed South China Sea

Philippine marines board rubber boats at the Philippine-occupied Thitu island, locally called Pag-asa island in the disputed South China Sea on Wednesday June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jim Gomez)
Philippine marines board rubber boats at the Philippine-occupied Thitu island, locally called Pag-asa island in the disputed South China Sea on Wednesday June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jim Gomez)
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Chinese Ship Runs Aground Off Philippines-occupied Island in Disputed South China Sea

Philippine marines board rubber boats at the Philippine-occupied Thitu island, locally called Pag-asa island in the disputed South China Sea on Wednesday June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jim Gomez)
Philippine marines board rubber boats at the Philippine-occupied Thitu island, locally called Pag-asa island in the disputed South China Sea on Wednesday June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jim Gomez)

A Chinese ship ran aground in stormy weather in shallow waters off a Philippines-occupied island in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Filipino forces to go on alert, Philippine military officials said Sunday.

When Filipino forces assessed that the Chinese fishing vessel appeared to have run aground in the shallows east of Thitu Island on Saturday because of bad weather, Philippine military and coast guard personnel deployed to provide help but later saw that the ship had been extricated, regional navy spokesperson Ellaine Rose Collado said.

No other details were immediately available, including if there were injuries among the crewmembers or if the ship was damaged, Collado said.

Confrontations have spiked between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy ships in the disputed waters in recent years.

"The alertness of our troops is always there,” Col. Xerxes Trinidad of the Armed Forces of the Philippines told reporters. But when they saw that a probable accident had happened, “we tried to provide assistance as professionals” in accordance with international law on helping distressed vessels at sea.

"We’re always following international law,” Trinidad said.

Filipino villagers living in a fishing village on Thitu, which they call Pagasa island, immediately informed the Philippine military and coast guard after seeing the Chinese ship lying in the shallows about 1.5 nautical miles (2.7 kilometers) from their village, said MP Albayda, a local Filipino official, told The Associated Press.

“They got worried because the Chinese were so close but it was really the strong wind and waves that caused the ship to run aground," said Albayda, adding that other Chinese ships pulled the stricken vessel away.

The stricken ship resembled what the Philippine military had repeatedly said were suspected Chinese militia ships, which had backed the Chinese coast guard and navy in blocking and harassing Philippine coast guard and military vessels in the disputed waters, a busy conduit for global trade and commerce.

Thitu Island is home to a Philippine fishing village and Filipino forces and is the largest of nine islands and islets occupied by the Philippines. It lies about 26 kilometers (16 miles) from Subi Reef, which China transformed into an island base along with six other barren reefs to reinforce its claim to virtually the entire South China Sea.

Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan are also involved in the long-simmering territorial standoffs, an Asian flashpoint that many fear could pit China and the United States in a major conflict.

The US does not lay any claim to the South China Sea but has repeatedly warned that it's obligated to defend the Philippines, it's longtime treaty ally, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.