Israel is the first country to ban the entry of all foreign travellers in a bid to contain the new Omicron Covid variant.
Scientists fear the strain, which first emerged in South Africa, is more likely to evade antibodies and has a higher rate of re-infection.The UK, US, EU and Australia are among a host of nations that have imposed restrictions on southern African countries in response to warnings over its transmissibility.
But Israel has gone one step further by shutting its borders completely.
The country’s government will also reintroduce counter-terrorism phone-tracking technology for contact testing in order to contain the spread of the new strain.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement that the ban, pending government approval, would last 14 days.
Israel has so far confirmed one case of the variant and seven other suspected cases.
Earlier, two cases were confirmed in the UK.
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