Latest Jerusalem News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a face mask in line with public health restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, looks at his lawyer inside the court room as his corruption trial opens at the Jerusalem District Court, Sunday, May 24, 2020. He is the country’s first sitting prime minister ever to go on trial, facing charges of fraud, breach of trust, and accepting bribes in a series of corruption cases stemming from ties to wealthy friends. (Ronen Zvulun/ Pool Photo via AP)

Israel's Netanyahu attacks justice system as trial begins

May. 24, 2020 2:00 PM EDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — To the sounds of his impassioned supporters chanting outside, a defiant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strode into a Jerusalem courtroom Sunday to face corruption charges in a long-awaited trial that has overshadowed three inconclusive elections and deeply divided the country....

Muslims wearing face masks attend the Eid al-Fitr prayers outside a mosque in Gaza City, Sunday, May 24, 2020. Millions of people in the world's largest Muslim nation are marking a muted and gloomy religious festival of Eid al-Fitr, the end of the fasting month of Ramadan _ a usually joyous three-day celebration that has been significantly toned down as coronavirus cases soar. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Muslims celebrate major holiday amid curfews, virus fears

May. 24, 2020 8:03 AM EDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Muslims around the world on Sunday began celebrating Eid al-Fitr, a normally festive holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, with millions under strict stay-at-home orders and many fearing renewed coronavirus outbreaks. The three-day holiday is usually a time of travel,...

An Orthodox clergyman holds holy fire to transfer to predominantly Orthodox countries from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed by many Christians to be the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem's old city after the traditional Holy Fire ceremony was called off amid coronavirus, Saturday, April 18, 2020. A few clergymen on Saturday marked the Holy Fire ceremony as the coronavirus pandemic prevented thousands of Orthodox Christians from participating in one of their most ancient and mysterious rituals at the Jerusalem church marking the site of Jesus' tomb.(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Jerusalem's Holy Sepulcher reopens after coronavirus closure

May. 24, 2020 4:03 AM EDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher reopened to visitors on Sunday after a two-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. The church, situated in Jerusalem's Old City, is the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, entombed, and resurrected. The Christian...

Visitors wearing masks to curb the spread of the coronavirus take shelter from a sudden rainstorm at a park in Beijing on Saturday, May 23, 2020. New coronavirus cases dropped to zero in China for the first time Saturday but overwhelmed hospitals across Latin America – both in countries lax about lockdowns and those lauded for firm, early confinement. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

The Latest: Montana outbreak tied to Schwab country club

May. 24, 2020 1:04 AM EDT

The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. TOP OF THE HOUR: — Montana outbreak tied to golf and country club developed by...

FILE - In this April 25, 2020 file photo, demonstrators wearing protective face masks amid concerns over the country's coronavirus outbreak, hang a banner showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during

Israel's Netanyahu, unbeaten in elections, is going on trial

May. 23, 2020 1:19 PM EDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — After entering the record books last year as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu will once again make history when he becomes the country’s first sitting leader to go on trial. Surrounded by security guards, Netanyahu is set to march into...

Palestinian Hamas police stand guard at the entrance of a mosque as worshipers attend the last Friday noon Prayer of the holy month of Ramadan, in Gaza City, Friday, May. 22, 2020. After nearly two months of closure due to the coronavirus, Gaza's Hamas rulers decided to partially reopen mosques for the Friday noon prayer. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Friday prayers resume in Gaza despite new virus fears

May. 22, 2020 11:25 AM EDT

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza’s Hamas rulers allowed mosques to reopen for Friday prayers for the first time since March, despite a recent spike in new coronavirus cases within quarantine facilities in the isolated territory. Worshippers were given hand sanitizer as they entered mosques. They...

In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses in a televised speech marking the annual Quds, or Jerusalem Day, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, May 22, 2020. Khamenei on Friday called Israel a “cancerous tumor” that “will undoubtedly be uprooted and destroyed” in an annual speech in support of the Palestinians, renewing threats against Iran's Mideast enemy. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Iran leader says Israel a 'cancerous tumor' to be destroyed

May. 22, 2020 11:01 AM EDT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's supreme leader on Friday called Israel a “cancerous tumor” that “will undoubtedly be uprooted and destroyed” in an annual speech in support of the Palestinians, renewing threats against Iran's archenemy in the Middle East. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali...

FILE - In this Feb. 16, 2020, file, photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting, in Jerusalem. An Israeli court on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appear for the opening of his criminal trial in Jerusalem on Sunday. (Gali Tibbon/Pool via AP, File)

Israeli court orders Netanyahu to appear at trial's opening

May. 20, 2020 11:55 AM EDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli court Wednesday ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appear for the opening of his criminal trial in Jerusalem, setting the stage for a dramatic scene on Sunday. Netanyahu will enter the Jerusalem District Court surrounded by a phalanx of security as he becomes the...

In this Tuesday, May 19, 2020 photo released by the state-run WAM news agency, an Etihad Airways flights loaded with aid for the Palestinians to fight the coronavirus pandemic is loaded in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Etihad Airways flew aid for the Palestinians amid the coronavirus pandemic from the capital of the United Arab Emirates into Israel on Tuesday, marking the first known direct commercial flight between the two nations. (WAM via AP)

Etihad makes 1st known commercial flight between UAE, Israel

May. 19, 2020 4:57 PM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An unmarked Etihad Airways cargo plane flew aid to help the Palestinians fight the coronavirus pandemic from the capital of the United Arab Emirates into Israel on Tuesday, marking the first known direct commercial flight between the two nations. The UAE, home to Abu...

An Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist holds a chalk measuring cup from early Roman period at an excavation site beneath the Western Wall, in Jerusalem's Old City, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Israeli archaeologists excavating in Jerusalem exhibited a recently uncovered, unusual series of 2,000-year-old chambers carved out of the bedrock beneath the Western Wall plaza on Tuesday. The excavations are uncovering new sections of a sprawling network of ancient subterranean passageways running alongside a contested Jerusalem holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Dig near Jerusalem's Western Wall yields 'puzzling' chambers

May. 19, 2020 11:28 AM EDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli archaeologists on Tuesday exhibited a recently uncovered, unusual series of 2,000-year-old chambers carved out of the bedrock beneath the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem. The Israel Antiquities Authority's excavations are uncovering new sections of a sprawling network of ancient...

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