The number of Israelis who have died from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached 939 at the end of August, doubling the numbers of COVID-19 deaths in the country in a month.

The death count at the beginning of August was 497 and is expected to pass the 1,000 mark in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the infection rate in Israel remained high and the Ministry of Health updated Tuesday that it recorded 2,159 new cases and that the number of Corona patients in critical condition rose to 436 people, of them 116 are on life support.

A total of 117,030 have contracted the virus since the outbreak, with over 20,000 still actively sick and over 95,000 who have recovered.

The government is still considering a closure to some extent ahead of the Jewish New Year holidays.

The Abraham Accords, the normalization of ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), constitutes a blow to the global campaign to boycott Israel, senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi admitted.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed on Saturday signed an order canceling the law on boycotting products from Israel and economic contacts with Israelis, a phase ahead of the full normalization of ties with Israel.

The order enables the import of Israeli goods and the signing of contracts with Israeli firms and abolishes the 1972 state law that upholds an economic boycott on Israel and the sanctions associated with it.

“The Decree comes as part of the UAE’s efforts to expand diplomatic and commercial cooperation with Israel, and by laying out a roadmap towards launching joint cooperation, leading to bilateral relations by stimulating economic growth and promoting technological innovation,” the UAE official WAM news stated.

Ashrawi, a member of PLO Executive Committee, conceded in a tweet that “while BDS is proving to be an effective tool of peaceful resistance and responsible, ethical investment and consumer responsibility to hold Israel to account, this happens! UAE issues decree ending Israel boycott after U.S-brokered deal to normalize ties.”

However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the decision as “an important step in promoting prosperity and peace in the region.”

The BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement promotes financial, academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, ostensibly as a nonviolent protest against the so-called “Israeli occupation.”

The scope of the boycotts has ultimately been negligible on the Jewish state but has served as a catalyst for anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiments at its centers of activity.

Critics say its activities are a modern form of anti-Semitism and that its true objective is to destroy the State of Israel.

IDF tanks on Saturday night attacked Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in response to the arson and explosive balloons launched by Gazan terrorists into Israeli territory during the day.

On Friday morning, terrorists from Gaza launched a barrage of six rockets at Israel. The projectiles exploded in open areas and no one was hurt. In response, the Israeli Air Force attacked Hamas targets, including a munitions manufacturing site.

In recent weeks, terrorists in the Gaza Strip have been launching balloons tied to flammable materials and explosive charges into communities in the vicinity of the Strip.

The arson attacks have ignited fires, but no one was injured in the attacks and no damage to property was caused.

On Saturday, firefighters worked to extinguish 25 fires.

Most of the fires were small and not dangerous, the Fire Department noted.

However, the KKL-JNF stated that hundreds of fires have consumed thousands of acres, and much damage was caused to trees and animals in the affected areas.

Environmental experts ‎say it ‎‎‎‎will take at least 15 years to rehabilitate ‎the ‎‎‎‎vegetation and wildlife that have been destroyed.‎

Israel’s Fire and Rescue Commissioner Dedi Simchi, has ordered the Fire Department’s Operations Division to prepare for the deployment of a delegation of firefighters to California, which is dealing with massive blazes that have consumed more than one million acres (four million dunams) in one of the state’s worst fire seasons in recent history.

At least seven people have died in the fires and over 1,200 buildings were gutted by the flames in the past 11 days.

More than 15,000 firefighters are already combating the blazes.

In accordance with the instructions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Minister of Internal Security Amir Ohana, the delegation includes officers and firefighters who are experts in the fields of rescue and forest fires.

The delegation is expected to leave on Sunday after receiving the required permits.

In the last two years, Israeli firefighters have operated in Brazil and Ethiopia while taking an active part in efforts to take control of huge fires and rescue victims.

“Israeli firefighters were praised for their operational and professional activities and have become a significant element in Israel’s diplomatic toolbox,” the Fire Department stated.

IDF troops operating in the Benyamin area on Wednesday night shot and killed a terrorist as he was attacking Israeli motorists driving in the area.

The IDF stated that soldiers operating near the Arab village of Deir Abu Mash’al identified a three-member terror squad carrying materials used to ignite Molotov cocktails and who placed tires in order to set them on fire and hit civilian vehicles driving on a nearby road.

The soldiers shot at the cell and hit one of them. The terrorist subsequently died of his injuries. The two others fled the scene.

The IDF noted that similar attacks have occurred in this area in the past. Earlier this month, a burning tire with an explosive charge inside it was placed on the road. No one was injured in the attack.

Benyamin Regional Council head Yisrael Ganz praised the action and wrote on Facebook: “A successful operation by the IDF. Praise to our dear warriors for a successful operation, with God’s help. Thank you to the brigade commander and the rest of the senior command who are working to strengthen security.”