At least 10 people died in a fresh strike on a UN school in Gaza yesterday, shortly after Israel confirmed it had begun withdrawing some troops from the enclave.
The strike on the school sheltering displaced Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah came as Israel pounded the region following the suspected capture of a soldier by militants, who was later declared dead.
It was the third time in 10 days that a UN school had been hit and came four days after Israeli tank shells slammed into a school in the northern town of Jabaliya, killing 16 in an attack denounced by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as “reprehensible.”
Photo: EPA
A correspondent said there was chaos at the site, with rescuers trying to evacuate the wounded any way they could, while adults sprinted through pools of blood with young children clutched in their arms.
UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) spokesman Chris Gunness said the school had been housing thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs).
“Shelling incident in vicinity of UNRWA school in Rafah sheltering almost 3,000 IDP. Initial reports say multiple deaths and injury,” he wrote on Twitter.
Regional efforts to broker a diplomatic end to the fighting between Israel and Hamas have so far proved elusive, with their confrontation in Gaza now in its 27th day with more than 1,700 people killed.
A Palestinian delegation was to hold truce talks yesterday in Cairo with senior US and Egyptian officials, but Israel has said it sees no point in sending its negotiators to the meeting, citing what it says are Hamas breaches of previous agreed truces.
Islamic Jihad was also expected to join along with US Middle East Envoy Frank Lowenstein.
Several Israeli newspapers reported that Cabinet ministers have taken a decision not to seek a further negotiated ceasefire agreement with Hamas and were considering ending the military operation unilaterally.
Israel’s military said yesterday that it had begun withdrawing some troops from Gaza.
“We are removing some [forces],” Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said, adding that troops were “extremely close” to completing a mission to destroy a network of reported attack tunnels.
“We are redeploying within the Gaza Strip, taking out other positions and relieving other forces from within, so it won’t be the same type of ground operation,” he said. “But indeed we will continue to operate ... [and] have a rapid reaction force on the ground that can engage Hamas if required. It’s changing gear, but it’s still ongoing.”
Israel’s assault on the southern city of Rafah began early on Friday in the opening hours of a 72-hour humanitarian truce, which was quickly shattered when militants ambushed a group of soldiers, killing two of them.
A third was reported missing, believed snatched in a development that drew sharp condemnation from top US and UN officials.
However, early yesterday, the Israeli army formally announced the death of the soldier, 23-year-old Hadar Goldin, saying he had been “killed in battle in the Gaza Strip on Friday.”
Army radio said no body had been recovered, rendering the decision to announce his death “very delicate.”
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
The WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on Friday, as part of justification for Washington withdrawing from the global health body. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that the US was pulling out of the UN agency, as it failed to fulfill its responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist, O’Neill wrote on X on Friday, Taiwan time. “It ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns.” The US will “continue international coordination on infectious
RSS