The Independent reports on a team of Israeli inventors who have developed a build-it-yourself ventilator for $500 as hospitals around the world scramble for more breathing machines. AmboVent is the brainchild of a team led by David Alkaher, the chief technology officer at an electronics unit of the Israeli Air Force. The device is up to 100 times cheaper than high-end ventilators made by the likes of Philips. AmboVent is producing 20 prototypes on a shoestring budget of $200,000, and plans to send them to various countries where other developers will navigate the process of getting regulatory approval.

The Economist notes that Israel has a new government “at last” and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “got most of what he wanted” in the agreement with Blue and White leader Benny Gantz. The report says that nearly two-thirds of the public supports the new government, with only about a fifth opposing it.

Reuters report on the unprecedented closures of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest place in Islam, by Muslim authorities in East Jerusalem at the start of the holy month of Ramadan. “Such a decision was the first in 1,400 years, it is tough, and it pains our hearts,” said Sheikh Omar Al-Kiswani, the director of Al-Aqsa Mosque. The report also notes the potential damage to both economies in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank due to many Palestinians families opting to save money in case of a further outbreak of the coronavirus. “People are coming to the market to waste time, they are entertaining themselves after the cafes are closed … no-one is buying” said Sameh Abu Shaban, who owns a store in Gaza selling dates and sweets. In the West Bank, Maher al-Kurdi, a supermarket owner in Hebron, said: “Usually shops would be crowded with large numbers of people. And mosques are closed, which would spoil the flavour of Ramadan.”

Reuters also report on an emerging trend within Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community as more religiously devout Jews, who traditionally shun the use of internet or smartphones, are increasingly going online to shop, study and video chat as the coronavirus outbreak forces them to stay at home. According to Bezeq, Israel’s largest telecoms group, there has been a 40 per cent surge in online traffic in densely populated ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighbourhoods, while 8 per cent of Bezeq’s new internet users are ultra-Orthodox, triple the normal average. Gilad Malach, head of the Israel Democracy Institute’s ultra-Orthodox programme, noted that while the ultra-Orthodox did not use internet at home, many did use it at work for specific needs and with filters. “Regarding the coronavirus, the damage from not using the internet was clear. People realise that they are not updated about the situation like others,” he said, noting that members of the community were using not just special ultra-Orthodox sites but general news sites, something their rabbis have long feared.

The Times and The Telegraph reports on the escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf between the US and Iran. In response to a tweet from US President Trump threatening to shoot down and destroy Iranian gunboats if they harass US ships, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vowed yesterday to destroy any US warships that threaten its security in the Gulf. The Times note that Trump took his own generals by surprise with his tweet, which suggested he was changing the navy’s rules of engagement, but is authorised to use force only in self-defence.

Reuters reports this morning that oil prices have rebounded from their historic low of minus $37.63 a barrel on Monday, after producers such as Kuwait said they would move to cut output and the US approved another package to cope with the turmoil caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Barring a sharp jump later today, though, prices are heading for their eighth weekly loss in the last nine, capping one of the most tumultuous weeks in the history of oil trading. Brent is headed for a more than 20 per cent loss this week, with US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) set for a fall of around near 8 per cent.

All the Israeli media report that yesterday the new national emergency government succeeded in passing a preliminary reading in the Knesset to amend the Basic Law: The Government, which will enable an alternating premiership. The amendment passed by a majority of 62 in favour with 37 opposed. Maariv reports that prior to the vote, a stormy discussion was held in the Knesset Arrangements Committee, where MK Yair Lapid, the leader of Yesh Atid-Telem, is quoted saying: “An entire world is collapsing all around us, and here there is a paper that deals with one thing, political jobs. Fifty-two ministers and deputy ministers, all of whom get something; they have an office and a driver and a set of sycophants … what will you tell the tens of thousands of small businesses that are collapsing?” Kan Radio news notes that MK Eitan Ginzburg from Blue and White explained that the goal was to form an equal unity government that could take action on behalf of Israel’s citizens and avert a fourth election.

Channel 12 News reports that Health Minister Yaakov Litzman from the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party has told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wants to leave the Health Ministry and take over the Housing and Construction portfolio in the next government. Litzman, who has held the health portfolio for the majority of the last 10 years, has been heavily criticised for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. In its early stages he excluded the ultra-Orthodox community from the social distancing regulations. Earlier this month Litzman himself contracted the coronavirus, together with his wife. Following his diagnosis Netanyahu, the Health Ministry’s director general and other senior officials all entered self-quarantine. The new decision by Litzman came as a surprise to the prime minister, who now needs to decide if the ministry will be given to a representative of the Likud, his bloc or Blue and White. According to Israel Hayom, a UTJ  party insider suggested that “this is just a rumour”. However, he speculates that the move could open the door for Yamina leader Naftali Bennett to get the health portfolio.

Haaretz reports that Hamas sources said that the “chances for progress have increased” in prisoner exchange talks with Israel. The report is based on an article published Thursday in Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper. As in the past, the talks are mediated by Egypt, who are prepared to make a goodwill gesture by releasing four Gazan doctors who were detained inside Egypt. According to Al-Akhbar, Hamas has given Israel a list of 250 Hamas prisoners held by Israel who are ill, elderly, female or minors, and is demanding that at the first stage these prisoners be freed in exchange for information on Israelis held in Gaza: the civilians Avera Mengistu and Hisham Al-Sayad, and the bodies of the soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who were killed in Operation Protective Edge in 2014. Meanwhile, a senior Israeli source told Channel 13 News that “an exceptional and rare opportunity has been created to reach a prisoner deal with Hamas.” The source said Hamas was deeply concerned about a potential spread of the coronavirus in the densely crowded Gaza Strip and was interested in a deal with Israel that would include medical assistance. The source said Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, was signalling that conditions were ripe for a deal, but warned that “if we do not act quickly the opportunity will pass”.