Palestinians opened fire on an Israeli military vehicle yesterday, causing no injuries, and Israeli troops arrested two militants in the West Bank, just hours before the Israeli and Palestinian leaders were to declare an end to violence after more than four years of fighting.
Agreement had been reached on three points, Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat told reporters yesterday at the four-way summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
These included a cessation of violence on both sides, the formation of a joint ministerial committee that will deal with the release of Palestinian prisoners and an agreement to transfer security control over autonomous West Bank cities back to the Palestinians.
"Peace is doable," he said. "What is needed is to end the occupation."
"I believe that this summit will be a beginning. It will not be an end. It will be the beginning of a series of meetings," he added.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was to pledge an end to attacks against Israelis, after having obtained such a promise from the various Palestinian militant groups.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was to declare an end to military operations, though a senior Israeli military official said yesterday that this did not mean an absolute end to arrests.
The official said that Israel reserves the right to go after "ticking bombs," or Palestinians en route to carry out an attack against Israelis, but that each arrest requires the approval of the army chief.
In areas under Palestinian security control, Israeli forces will coordinate with their Palestinian counterparts, the military official said. For now, the Palestinians control about two-thirds of the Gaza Strip. In coming days and weeks, Israel plans to hand five West Bank towns over to Palestinian control. The areas to be handed over do not include Nablus and Jenin, strongholds of militants.
The official said that while there has been a drop in Palestinian violence in recent days, intelligence officials were still receiving warnings about planned attacks.
Israeli troops yesterday briefly sealed off Nablus, barring Palestinians from leaving. The military said it had received warnings that militants from Nablus were planning an attack.
In the past few days, Israeli security forces have been on high alert, following warnings that militants including Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas were trying to disrupt the Middle East summit with attacks. Hezbollah funds a number of Palestinian groups, including squads of gunmen in Nablus.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians fired at an army vehicle moving along the fence surrounding the Gush Katif bloc of Jewish settlements, the army said. No injuries or damage were reported.
Near Jenin, Israeli troops arrested two militants allegedly involved in planning an attack on Israelis, the army said. The army said the arrest, like others in the past 10 days, was carried out with the specific approval of the army chief, Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon.
Israel Radio, meanwhile, reported that 500 Palestinian security prisoners launched a hunger strike at an Israeli prison to draw attention to one of the most disputed issues on the summit agenda -- the fate of some 8,000 prisoners. However, the Israeli Prisons Authority said the prisoners were not accepting food from prison wardens, but were buying their own supplies in the prison cafeteria.
On Monday, a Palestinian woman was arrested in a village near Jenin on suspicion of planning an attack. The Israeli Haaretz daily said the 21-year-old secretary, allegedly with ties to the Islamic Jihad group, had an explosives belt.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RSS