The IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) delivered 3,000 testing kits for detecting Coronavirus (COVID-19) and 50,000 protective masks to the Palestinian Authority (PA), another Israeli step to help the PA combat the spread of the virus.

The equipment, which was donated by the World Health Organization (WHO), was transferred on Wednesday from Jordan into the PA through the IDF.

COGAT head Gen. Kamil Abu Rukon stated that “this is another instance that COGAT is working closely with the World Health Organization to assist the PA in combating the Coronavirus outbreak.”

He “applauded the cooperation with the international organizations for the important and common purpose,” and “wished for the robust health of all the residents of the region” and  expressed hope that the IDF “will continue to work together in the fight against the spread of the dangerous virus.”

In related news, the Al Makassed Hospital in eastern Jerusalem held professional training sessions on Wednesday for the preparation of hospital departments to receive Coronavirus patients. The hospital received assistance from the Israeli Ministry of Health to establish an ICU for COVID-19 patients.

Israel has shut down its crossings into Gaza and the PA-controlled areas in Judea and Samaria to stem the spread of the virus.

The PA has recorded 64 cases of Coronavirus and experienced its first Corona related death on Wednesday when a woman in her 60s from the village of Biddo died of the virus.

Of the 64 Coronavirus cases, two are in Gaza, while the majority of the cases are concentrated in the Ramallah and Bethlehem areas.

COGAT has been assisting the PA’s health ​care system in the effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus in Judea and Samaria and in the Gaza Strip.

COGAT has published the Israeli health ministry guidelines on prevention and protection from the virus spread and ways to deal with contagion and outbreak in Arabic.

Civil Administration Health Coordinator Dalia Basa said earlier this month that “bacteria and viruses do not stop at the border, and the spread of the dangerous virus in Judea and Samaria can also jeopardize the health of the residents of Israel.”

Israel will continue to assist the PA “both as an Israeli interest and for humanitarian reasons,” she added.

President Reuven Rivlin spoke on Tuesday with President Miloš Zeman of the Czech Republic and President Zoran Milanović of Croatia following the global spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

In his conversation with Zeman, Rivlin “expressed the solidarity felt by Israelis for Czechs, saying the spread of the disease and the steps taken by the Israeli and Czech governments is similar. Both people have known how to overcome difficulties and to rebuild in the past, and we will do so again this time,” his office stated.

Zeman thanked Rivlin for his call and told him of the situation in his country with the spread of the virus.

Rivlin also spoke with President Zoran Milanović of Croatia, “congratulated him on his election to the presidency and expressed his sorrow that the coronavirus was the occasion of their first conversation.”

Rivlin thanked Milanović for his country’s assistance in bringing dozens of Israeli students back home.

“The two discussed the strong bilateral relations and President Rivlin expressed his hope that they would only become deeper and stronger,” Rivlin’s office said.

These two conversations were the latest of a series held by Rivlin in the past week.

On Sunday he spoke with King Felipe VI of Spain and with Armenia’s President Armen Sarkissian.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Tuesday with Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel on ways to fight the virus.

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) and the US Army commenced on Tuesday in a joint air exercise that will include drills with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

The IDF stated that the exercise, which will take place in the south and end on Thursday, will take place only in the air and there will be no sessions on the ground, presumably because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) related restrictions.

The IDF emphasized that the exercise was planned in advance as part of the 2020 training program and “is intended to maintain the readiness and fitness of the forces.”

The IDF and US Army canceled a few exercises earlier this year following the spread of Coronavirus.

The Adir (mighty) was declared operational by the IAF in December 2017. The Israeli F-35 was the first outside of the US to be declared operational, preceded only by the US Marine Corps and the US Air Force.

The fifth-generation fighter jet, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is considered one of the world’s most advanced fighter aircraft. Israel has acquired a total of 50 F-35s which are to be supplied by December 2024.

IDF forces on Sunday evening shot and killed a terrorist while he was throwing rocks at Israeli motorists in the Benyamin region.

The IDF stated that their troops identified a number of suspects throwing rocks at Israeli vehicles on a highway. The soldiers fired at the suspects who threw rocks and were preparing to throw more.

One terrorist was killed by the gunfire. MDA teams and IDF medical personnel carried out CPR operations at the end of which the terrorist was announced dead.

Another terrorist was wounded by the gunfire and escaped the scene. The IDF launched a manhunt for him.

No Israelis were wounded in the attacks or during the IDF’s operation.

However, photos seen by TPS of the results of the attacks show massive rocks that hit the cars, shattering windshields and apparently causing damage to the car’s frame.

Aryeh Even, 88, died of Coronavirus in a Jerusalem hospital over the weekend, the first Israeli to die of the virus.

Even, a Holocaust survivor who suffered from other prior illnesses, was buried in a small funeral on Saturday night in Jerusalem.

The Ministry of Health on Sunday morning updated that the number of Corona patients on Israel was 883, with 15 in serious condition,19 in moderate condition, and 38 who have recovered.

Israel on Saturday night introduced the final draft of stringent directives limiting public interactions to curb the spread of the virus. An emphasis was put on penalties for breaching the directives, which included fines and prison sentences.

Minister of Transportation Bezalel Smotrich and Deputy Minister of Finance Yitzchak Chen entered quarantine on Saturday night after being notified that they had separately met with a person who was diagnosed with Corona.

An employee at the Israeli Consulate General in New York was diagnosed on Saturday with Corona. He is at home in isolation in good condition. Israeli Consul General Danny Dayan went into quarantine following his exposure to the employee.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Channel 12 News that we should pray to the Creator that the Corona epidemic should end soon.

The novel Coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting 188 countries around the world.

At least 308,500 cases of Coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide, including at least 13,000 deaths. Some 96,000 have recovered.