Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new centrist party on Monday declared Palestinian statehood as a central goal, and Israel indicated it would drop a threat to ban Jerusalem's Palestinians from voting in their parliamentary election, signaling a moderate line for present and future political moves.
But the signs of accommodation were dampened by an announcement of new Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military yesterday fired a barrage of artillery and missiles at the Gaza Strip, hitting two offices of the militant al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and a bridge the army said was used by militants to reach areas where they fire rockets.
PHOTO: EPA
Hours later, about two dozen armed al-Aqsa militants took over the governor's office and two other government buildings in northern Gaza -- the latest outbreak of lawlessness that has undermined the rule of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israel's pre-dawn aerial strikes were part of the army's attempt to halt rocket fire on Israeli towns bordering Gaza. Sharon has approved a buffer zone in northern Gaza, although the army said it has not yet implemented the plan. Enforcement -- including firing at anyone who enters the area -- is not likely to begin in the coming 12 hours, the army said.
The army has been destroying roads and other installations used by militants to get to areas that put Israeli towns within range of their highly inaccurate, homemade rockets. The bridge destroyed yesterday has been targeted before.
Since Israel's withdrawal this summer from the Gaza Strip, more Israeli towns -- including the city of Ashkelon -- have come into rocket range. Earlier this month, a rocket landed near Ashkelon's power plant and a fuel depot, alarming Israelis.
The offices of al-Aqsa -- a group with links to the ruling Fatah party -- were targeted because militants used them to meet, plan and recruit, the army said. But Palestinians said the offices were used for social and educational purposes.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
CABINET APPROVAL: People seeking assisted reproduction must be assessed to determine whether they would be adequate parents, the planned changes say Proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) advanced yesterday by the Executive Yuan would grant married lesbian couples and single women access to legal assisted reproductive services. The proposed revisions are “based on the fundamental principle of respecting women’s reproductive autonomy,” Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who presided over a Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday, as saying at the briefing. The draft amendment would be submitted to the legislature for review. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, which proposed the amendments, said that experts on children’s rights, gender equality, law and medicine attended cross-disciplinary meetings, adding that
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