Israel has banned gatherings of over 20 people during the country’s coronavirus lockdown.

The opposition claimed the ruling is using the health crisis to suppress demonstrations calling for Benjamin Netanyahu to resign as prime minister.

The  legislation was approved at 4.30am local time (1.30am GMT) on Wednesday after an all-night session of the Knesset.

It allows the government to restrict people from travelling more than 1km from their homes to demonstrate as well as  banning outdoor gatherings of more than 20 people.

Weekly rallies in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in which large crowds have highlighted PM Netanyahu’s poor handling of the pandemic will now be illegal under the new law.

Ahead of the new ruling several hundred people had gathered on Tuesday outside the Knesset.

Yair Lapid,  opposition leader in the Knesset, tweeted: “What’s the next step? Banning the opposition leader from addressing parliament?”

Yaniv Segal, an actor who has been out of work for several months, told the Guardian: "I think we can see they are not aimed to stop the pandemic or the coronavirus but it’s a political restriction in order to stop and kill the demonstrations against Netanyahu.

“This is an anti-democratic law. It’s only to stop resistance against a prime minister that is corrupted and accused of many crimes.”

The new law can be used only during a lockdown.

Israel has recorded some of the highest per capita daily coronavirus infection rates in the world, and a military body said on Tuesday the country’s deaths per capita had surpassed the US.

Officials say the country was reopened too fast and with few restrictions after the lockdown in the spring.