Israel has announced plans to roll out a nightly curfew over Chanukah and the festive period as cases continue to climb.

Proposals to ban commercial activity and impose restrictions on movement at night, starting Wednesday, will be put to the cabinet for approval on Tuesday, the PM’s office said Monday.

According to Israeli media, the nighttime lockdown will last three weeks through to January 2.

Israel, which emerged from two lockdowns this year, saw confirmed cases rise to 346,797 and a total of 2,924 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. 

The lockdown will include increased enforcement and a fine hike but will not “infringe on the right to demonstrate”, the PM’s office said. 

Travellers returning to Israel seeking to quarantine at home rather than a designated hotel will have to be tested for covid-19, and some activity will be allowed at cultural venues.

In a meeting with his coronavirus cabinet on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu said vaccines were “on the way” and that he was working “around the clock”.

“There is light at the end of the pandemic here. We need to work together, bring the vaccines and impose the restrictions so that we lower morbidity, and we will come out of this,” he said.