Rockets from Gaza apparently targeting Israel landed across the border in Egypt yesterday amid tensions after the deaths of policemen on the border and protests outside Israel’s embassy.
Tensions between the Jewish state and the most populous Arab nation have surged since the deaths on Thursday of the police officers, killed as Israeli troops pursued militants responsible for deadly attacks near Eilat.
“Several rockets from the Gaza Strip landed this morning in Egyptian territory in the region west of the Rafah terminal, without causing casualties,” reports said.
A security official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed the report, but said the rockets could have been fired by mistake.
The Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees and the armed wing of Islamic Jihad said they had lobbed rockets at an Israeli army post near Kerem Shalom on the Israel-Gaza border, 2km from the Egyptian frontier.
Tensions in and around the Gaza Strip have soared since Thursday, when militants staged a series of bloody shooting attacks in the Negev desert, killing eight Israelis and prompting a wave of bloody tit-for-tat exchanges.
It also sparked a diplomatic crisis with Egypt after Cairo said five policemen were killed by Israeli fire as soldiers pursued gunmen involved in the Negev ambushes.
Egyptian state media reported on Saturday that the government had decided to recall its envoy to Tel Aviv and later said a senior Israeli envoy was summoned by the foreign minister to receive a protest note.
Israel said it had received no notification of the decision to withdraw the envoy.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the Jewish state “regrets” the deaths of the soldiers and would probe the killings and share the results with the Egyptian authorities.
However, Egypt dismissed the apology as insufficient as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo overnight to vent their anger. The number trickled down to 200 by yesterday afternoon.
Ahmed Shehat became a hero to an exultant crowd of Egyptians and many more online when he hauled down the Star of David flag atop Israel’s embassy in Cairo.
More than 1,000 people protested outside the Israeli embassy overnight and let off celebratory fireworks when Shehat clambered to the top floor of a high-rise housing the mission, replacing the flag with an Egyptian one.
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source