Israel lifts restrictions on gatherings, schools

Israel’s military said Tuesday it was lifting restrictions on public gatherings, workplaces and schools it imposed during its 12-day war with Iran after a ceasefire took effect.

“All areas of the country will shift to full activity” from 8:00 pm (1700 GMT) on Tuesday on the orders of Defence Minister Israel Katz, the military said in a statement.

The guidelines will be effective until Thursday evening, when they will be reviewed.

Israel’s airport authority also announced that all flights to and from the country would resume.

According to the transport ministry, between 100,000 and 150,000 Israelis were stranded abroad when Israel closed its airspace after launching a massive bombing campaign against Iran on June 13.

Tens of thousands of them have since been repatriated by air or sea.

The country has been under tight restrictions since the start of the war, with schools closed and non-essential businesses shut.

Israel and Iran both said Tuesday they would abide by a ceasefire deal first announced by US President Donald Trump.

Israel, in announcing it had agreed to Trump’s plan, said it had achieved all its military objectives.

Iran initially stopped short of officially accepting the proposal, but President Masoud Pezeshkian later said that if “the Zionist regime does not violate the ceasefire, Iran will not violate it either”.

Israel hit Iranian military and nuclear facilities as well as key commanders and scientists, prompting waves of retaliatory Iranian missile fire at Israel.

The full extent of the damage in Israel is still not known due to military censorship rules, but at least 50 impacts have been acknowledged nationwide, and the official death toll stands at 28.

At least four people died in the southern city of Beersheba on Tuesday in a missile attack launched by Iran shortly before the ceasefire entered force, the emergency services said.

AFP