Israel PM would testify thrice a week for corruption trial

Tel Aviv [Israel], August 12 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be required to testify three times a week in his corruption trial starting in November, judges overseeing the case have ruled, according to Israeli media, as per Al Jazeera.

The Jerusalem District Court said there will be four hearings per week from November, with Netanyahu testifying in three of them until the end of his cross-examination. The trial, which began in 2020, has faced repeated delays.

The court is currently on recess, with the next hearings scheduled for September. Judges also ordered an examination of moving future hearings to a court in Beit Shemesh instead of the Tel Aviv District Court, where proceedings have been held so far.

The Jerusalem District Court building cannot host the hearings during the war as it lacks an adequate bomb shelter, as per Al Jazeera.

Prosecutors have accused Netanyahu of using the Gaza war to shield himself from proceedings, citing the conflict as a reason for postponements. Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing in the corruption case.

At least 89 Palestinians, including 31 aid seekers, have been killed and 513 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave's Health Ministry, as per Al Jazeera.

Amid the conflict, five more Palestinians, including two children, have starved to death in the enclave, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, raising the total number of hunger-related deaths to 227, including 103 children.

Palestinians have held funerals for four Al Jazeera journalists assassinated by Israel in Gaza as protesters rallied around the world against the killings, including in London, Berlin, Tunis and Ramallah.

The EU, China and Israel's close ally Germany have condemned the targeted attack while the UN has described it as a "grave breach of international humanitarian law".

Israel-Gaza conflict has killed at least 61,599 people and wounded 1,54,088. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive, as reported by Al Jazeera.

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