Three Gaza rockets were shot down over the Tel Aviv area yesterday, as Hamas militants claimed they had fired M75 missiles at the Israeli city’s airport.
All three were shot down by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, the Israeli army said.
“Three rockets were launched at central Tel Aviv. All three were intercepted over the Tel Aviv metropolitan area,” an army statement said.
Photo: AFP
The rocket fire was claimed by Hamas militants in Gaza who said they had launched “four M75 missiles at Ben Gurion airport,” just outside Tel Aviv.
A spokesman for Israel’s Airport Authority told reporters that Ben Gurion airport had been closed for “nine minutes” during the air raid, but then resumed operations as normal.
Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, warned airlines against using Israeli airports.
“We are sending a message to all foreign airlines operating flights into the Zionist entity, asking them to stop flying into the entity because of the dangers surrounding all the airports due to the ongoing war,” the brigades said in a statement.
Witnesses in Tel Aviv said four or five explosions were heard shortly after sirens sounded in the area.
Police reported finding “shrapnel” in Tel Aviv, but no injuries.
Meanwhile, Egypt said yesterday its efforts to halt the violence have met with “stubbornness,” as it appealed to the international community to intervene.
Israel’s aerial military campaign targeting militants in Gaza has killed at least 100 Palestinians and wounded more than 500 since its launch on Tuesday.
Egypt, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, played a key role in mediating ceasefires in past wars between the Jewish state and Hamas.
However, it has signaled a more hands-off approach in the latest conflict, which comes at a time of mounting tensions between Egypt’s new government and Hamas.
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that Cairo was finding it difficult to resolve the latest violence.
“Egypt has communicated with all sides to halt violence against civilians and called on them to continue with the truce agreement signed in November 2012,” the ministry said. “Unfortunately, these efforts over the past 10 days have met with stubbornness, with only innocent civilians paying the price.”
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2