12 paramedics killed in Israeli airstrike on Lebanese village
At least 12 paramedics from civil defence teams were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their centre in Duris, a village in Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, media reported.
Israel Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit on Thursday said that there was no legal obstacle to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forming and leading the next government despite the criminal charges against him, according to the media report.
Mandelblit made the remarks in an opinion submitted on Thursday to the High Court of Justice as a response to a petition that will be heard on Sunday in front of an expanded panel of 11 judges, The Times of Israel newspaper reported.
“Despite the significant difficulties that arise in this matter, they do not constitute grounds for judicial intervention,” the newspaper quoted Mandelblit as saying in the opinion with regard to the bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges that he himself in January filed against Netanyahu in three cases.
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On April 16, Netanyahu and his main rival Benny Gantz failed to meet a midnight deadline to form an emergency unity government, thus failing to end the ongoing political impasse.
Gantz ran against Netanyahu in three rounds of inconclusive elections over the past year.
Also on Thursday, the Israeli Parliament approved in the first reading a bill to enable the unity government deal.
Under the unusual power-sharing deal signed on April 20, Netanyahu will serve as Prime Minister for 18 months before being replaced by Gantz.
The unity government deal was achieved after three rounds of elections that produced inconclusive results in about a year.
The bill still needs two more full rounds of readings in Parliament before getting its final approvement.
Earlier, Netanyahu was suspected of receiving significant gifts from Israeli and foreign businessmen, in a manner which breached his duty of trust as a public servant.
Netanyahu’s downfall has been predicted multiple times since he was elected for a second term in 2009, but he has defied expectations and beaten off multiple potential rivals.
(With inputs from agency)
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