The extreme heat wave, or “sharav” that began on Saturday in Israel has brought with it warnings to Israelis not to forget to keep drinking water.

Those with medical conditions, the elderly, young, and pregnant are urged to remain indoors with fans or air conditioning as much as possible.

Temperatures spiked on Sunday, reaching into the 40s celsius (100s fahrenheit) in desert and beach areas such as Eilat, where it reached as high as 45 / 113 degrees.

At least 440 people so far have been treated between Saturday and Monday mornings for heat exhaustion, dehydration, fainting and other results of the heat wave. The Magen David Adom emergency medical response service said it has been called to treat hundreds of people. More than 30 were dehydrated, and nearly 200 had fainted.

Three suffered from heat stroke. Among those were an eight-year-old girl who was hiking near Nachal Tavor in the Lower Galilee, and a 40-year-old man, found semi-conscious on Sunday on the roof of a building in Lod. Both were hospitalized in serious condition.

The extreme heat is expected to continue at least into Tuesday.

An earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale rattled Eilat on Monday morning at around 4:30 AM.

The epicenter was around 100 miles south of Eilat in the Sinai.

Tremors were felt in Eilat and the Negev.

There were no injuries or damage.

By Michael Bachner/TPS

Eilat (TPS) – The IDF has conducted a large-scale naval drill in Eilat that concluded early Thursday morning, March 31. One of the scenarios the drill simulated was the hijacking of a civilian Israeli vessel by the Islamic State (ISIS).

All navy units, including the elite Shayetet 13 special commando unit, participated in the exercise. According to the IDF, it was meant to practice the navy’s quick reaction to immediate threats under pressure.

The scenarios simulated during the drill included terrorists invading Israel’s borders by sea; an attempted terror attack directed at an Israeli vessel; and taking over an Israeli vessel hijacked by ISIS terrorists. The latter scenario was exercised by Shayetet 13.

Increased ISIS influence and activity in the Sinai is viewed as a potential threat in Israel, and a senior navy officer said the drill is meant to improve the response to events of maritime terror attacks.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit explained that the drill had been planned ahead of time and that its goal is to continue training the forces in different scenarios.

By Michael Zeff/TPS

Eilat (TPS) – For the first time, Israel will host the RS:X World Windsurfing Championships, as 143 of the world’s top athletes converge Monday on the southern resort city of Eilat, The competitors, who include past Olympic medalists, will compete for the title of champion and coveted places in this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

“Eilat was chosen by an international committee of the World Sailing organization, which is the umbrella body for all sailing events officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee, including windsurfing,” Ronen Hillel, spokesperson of the Israel Sailing Association told Tazpit Press Service (TPS).

According to a spokesperson from the municipality, Eilat has become an internationally respected aquatic sports town.

“Our city is thrilled to be hosting this world championship. Thanks to the city’s natural resources and investment in aquatic sports facilities, we have become the hosts of many European and world championships of many sports events,” stated Eilat Mayor Meir Yitzhak Halevi.

The championship is being held with the support of the Israel Ministry of Culture and Sport and the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and Galilee, which financed the purchase of equipments, development of infrastructure and the refurbishment of the city’s sailing club.

“We are extremely proud to be hosting an international world championship of an important Olympic event in Israel. We are ecstatic to be seeing the cream of the crop of this event right here in Israel. I want to wish the best of luck to all athletes Israeli and international,” Gili Amir, chairman of the Israel Sailing Association told TPS.

Israeli athletes have racked up many achievements in sailing events and windsurfing in particular. In 2004, Israeli windsurfer Gal Fridman made history by bringing Israel its first gold medal during the Athens Olympics.

By Jonathan Benedek/TPS

Israel’s Southern District Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against Israeli Arabs Khalil Nimri and Ashraf Salaimeh, in the Beersheva District Court recently. Both are suspected of conspiring to aid the enemy in wartime for reportedly planning to bomb a hotel in Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat.

According to the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office, Khalil and Ashraf met each other from their joint work in the hotel and conspired two months ago to carry out a terrorist attack.

One of the defendants was seeking to avenge the death of his childhood friend Fadi Alun who was killed on October 4 during a stabbing attack in Jerusalem. Ashraf reportedly felt an overall need to carry out an attack as part of the current wave of terror attacks.

The indictment also indicates that Khalil originally proposed to commit a stabbing attack against a religious Jew. Ashraf apparently rejected the idea, arguing instead for a much bigger and more significant attack. Ashraf suggested a plan that Khalil agreed to, in which they would plant a bomb in a hotel in Eilat.

The defendants made a number of preparations in order to implement the attack, among which included observations of the hotel from outside and gathering information on a religious group that planned to stay at the hotel. One of the defendants also watched Internet videos that showed how to construct a bomb.

On November 30, Ashraf arrived at the hotel in order to gather information and make preliminary preparations for the attack. He created the false impression that he was interested in renting a hotel room for a certain period of time and asked to see the different rooms of the hotel to make a decision. Ashraf said that he was interested in taking a room located below the dining room, where he was reportedly planning to hide the bomb.

It was Ashraf’s questions regarding the hotel’s several entrances, overall occupancy, and of the religious group staying at the hotel, that aroused the suspicions of the receptionist and housekeeper.

After Ashraf left the hotel, the receptionist and housekeeper alerted hotel management and security of their suspicions, which led to the arrest of Ashraf and Khalil.

The case was investigated by the Israel Security Agency and Israeli police units in the south.

Another incident of terror activity planned by Israeli Arabs was recently released for publication as well. Four residents of Jaljulia, an Arab town in central Israel near Kfar Saba, were arrested in November for arms trade and for involvement in disorderly conduct the previous month.

Yahya Abu Hajla, Firas Feki, Muhammad Fayoumi and Udai Harbush, all Israeli citizens residing in Jaljulia, were arrested in a joint operation of the Israel police and the General Security Service (Shin Bet).

The four were involved in violent riots, tire burning and rock throwing at police forces during the recent October events. Their interrogation further revealed that they planned to shoot at a police vehicle or to burn down the local police station using Molotov cocktails, but eventually backtracked due to fear of being caught.

The Shin Bet said in a statement, that it is likely that their arrest “prevented a further and more significant involvement in terrorist activity.”

Fayoumi and Abu Hajla were indicted for arms trade, and Feki, Abu Hajla and Harbush were indicted for disorderly conduct.

Michael Bachner contributed to this report.

British carrier Monarch Airlines is launching a new route from Tel Aviv to Manchester three times a week, starting next April.

The airline has already begun to book seats for the flights, which will take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Earlier this month, Monarch began flying three times a week flying to Ben Gurion International Airport from Luton Airport, near London.

The airline also flies once a week each Thursday from Ovda Airport near Eilat to Luton Airport as well.

Kabbalist Rabbi Dov Kook of Tiberias visited Eilat this week and sailed in a boat to reach an IDF Navy ship to encourage soldiers to say “Shema Yisrael” but almost landed in the sea.

The Hareidi website Kikar Shabbat reported that Rabbi Kook spoke with officials of the southern tourist city as part of a campaign to persuade Jews to say the prayer, recited three times daily in prayers and before going to sleep at night.

After visiting the maritime observatory in Eilat, Rabbi Kook sailed in a boat towards a Navy ship. As seen in the video in the link here, he began to lose his footing while trying to board the ship as others told him, “Rabbi, be careful.”

He settled for remaining on the boat and shouting out loud, “Say Shema Yisrael. This is most important. You can say it now but especially at night.”

The soldiers promised they would, and the rabbi sailed back to Eilat.