Israel pounded the Gaza Strip for a 15th straight day yesterday and militants from Hamas fired rockets back at Israel, both sides defying international efforts to put a stop to the conflict.
Eight Palestinians were killed by an Israeli tank shell in Jabalya in the north of the Gaza Strip and an air strike on a house in nearby Beit Lahiya killed a woman, Palestinian medics said.
Hamas rockets hit the town of Ashkelon, about 20km north of Gaza, wounding two Israelis.
Concerned about the deepening impact of the war on Gaza’s 1.5 million people, more than half of whom depend on food assistance, the UN said it was hoping to resume full aid distribution yesterday after receiving Israeli assurances that its staff would not be harmed.
Despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire and Egyptian-European mediation efforts, Israel appeared set on pressing on with its offensive, which it says is to stop Hamas rocket fire. In response, Hamas fired more rockets.
Continuing a policy of recent days, however, Israel was scheduled to cease operations between 1pm and 4pm yesterday to allow humanitarian aid to be distributed throughout Gaza.
At least two tank shells hit northern Gaza immediately after the truce window opened, residents said.
Medical officials in the Gaza Strip said the Palestinian death toll had risen to 795, of whom more than a third were children, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said.
Thirteen Israelis have been killed — 10 soldiers and three civilians hit by Hamas rocket fire.
Hamas fired around a dozen rockets into Israel yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Israeli air force dropped leaflets warning residents that it plans to escalate its two-week-old offensive.
The army says it has dropped the fliers throughout Gaza. It says the notices are meant as a “general warning.”
The notice says Israel is about to begin a “new phase in the war on terror.”
Elsewhere, in an attempt to breath life into an Egyptian-led mediation effort, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party is a political foe of Hamas, met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for talks in Cairo.
They discussed the possible deployment of international forces along the Gaza-Egypt border under any ceasefire deal, but Abbas said they should be in Gaza itself.
Privately, diplomats believe the Egyptian initiative, also sponsored by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, is in trouble, even if Israel has said talks will continue.
“There is a growing sense that the Egyptian-French plan is not going to work,” a senior European diplomat said.
Also See: Malaysians protest Gaza attacks
Also See: Gazans asked to move to building, later bombed: UN
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative