Israel yesterday said it had agreed on a truce with Hamas to end 10 days of violence in Gaza, although the reported deal was denied by the Islamist movement.
News of a fresh attempt to end the worst bloodshed in the Gaza Strip in five years came during a five-hour humanitarian truce, under which both Israel and Hamas militants had agreed to hold their fire.
As relative calm returned to the skies over Gaza for the first time since Tuesday last week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was due to meet with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, as Cairo pushed regional efforts to broker a new ceasefire deal. An earlier Egyptian attempt to end hostilities collapsed on Tuesday, with Hamas claiming it had not been included in the negotiations.
Photo: Reuters
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Israeli official said the Jewish state and Hamas “have agreed on a ceasefire” that would begin at 3am GMT today.
However, Hamas shot down the report.
“The news about a ceasefire is incorrect. There are continuing efforts, but no agreement until now,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in Gaza.
Photo: AFP
Despite the diplomacy, there seemed little appetite from either side to end their confrontation, which has so far claimed the lives of 231 people in Gaza and one person in Israel.
During the five-hour humanitarian lull, which had been requested by the UN, militants in Gaza fired three mortar shells at southern Israel. And shortly after it ended at 12pm GMT, another Gaza rocket crashed near the southern port city of Ashkelon, the army said.
In a separate incident, an Israeli soldier was lightly injured by an explosion near the fence, with the army firing back across the border, the army said.
The two sides had agreed to temporarily suspend hostilities, with a senior UN official saying the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza would be opened to allow in medical aid. It also gave Gazans a chance to leave their homes and stock up on supplies, or pick up belongings from homes which they had evacuated.
In Gaza City, the streets immediately filled with honking cars and traffic jams, and outside banks, hundreds of people massed by ATMs to withdraw money to buy supplies.
“It’s not enough. People need to go out and get supplies and to get their belongings. It should have been from 7am until dusk,” Mohamed Nasr said.
“We’ve been stuck in our houses during this war, because of the violence. It’s like living under curfew,” he said.
Just moments before the humanitarian truce began at 7am GMT, Israeli tank fire killed three people in southern Gaza, Palestinian medics said.
The Israeli army also foiled a “major terror attack” by a group of 13 militants who managed to enter southern Israel by tunnel and were seen heading toward Sufa kibbutz near the fence, Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told reporters.
They were targeted in an air strike, which killed one and sent the others fleeing back into the tunnel, he said.
The raid was claimed by Hamas, which said its militants had carried out a successful “mission” into Israel.
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
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
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
RSS