Israel to Impose Nationwide Curfew on Passover

Israel announced on Tuesday that it will impose a nationwide curfew extending from Wednesday at 3 p.m. local time to Thursday at 6:00 a.m. in order to prevent people from congregating for the traditional Passover Seder. The cabinet also decided to ban intercity travel for close to 60 hours beginning Tuesday at 7 pm. The news came as health officials raised the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 – the disease caused by the pathogen – to more than 9,000. Sixty people have died and over 150 others are in critical condition, with more than two-thirds being sustained by ventilators. In a televised address on Monday night, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stressed that the upcoming days would be “fateful” in the country’s battle against the outbreak. He added that there were “positive signs on the horizon” and if the public abided by the tougher regulations, certain restrictions on movement could be gradually relaxed after the week-long Passover period concludes on April 15. “It depends on you. It depends on the fulfilment of the tough directives.… Don’t get complacent,” Netanyahu said.