Any deal on Gaza’s future at truce talks in Cairo must be contingent on Israel’s security needs, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday, cautioning Hamas against carrying out its threat of a long war if Palestinian demands are not met.
With a five-day ceasefire due to expire late today, negotiators were set to reconvene in the Egyptian capital to seek an end to five weeks of hostilities that have killed more than 2,000 people.
Both sides say gaps remain in reaching a long-term deal that would keep the peace between Israel and militant groups in the Hamas-dominated Gaza Strip, as well as open the way for reconstruction aid to reach the battered enclave.
Photo: AFP
As part of any enduring halt to violence, Hamas wants Israeli and Egyptian blockades of Gaza lifted, while also seeking the establishment of a seaport and airport.
Israel, which launched its offensive on July 8 after a surge in cross-border Hamas rocket attacks, has shown scant interest in making sweeping concessions and has called for the disarming of militant groups in the territory of 1.8 million people.
In public remarks to his Cabinet, Netanyahu said Hamas should not underestimate Jerusalem’s resolve to battle on.
“Only if there is a clear response to our security needs will we agree to reach understandings,” he said. “If Hamas thinks that through continued intermittent firing it will cause us to make concessions, it is mistaken. For as long as quiet does not return, Hamas will continue to absorb very harsh strikes.”
The Gaza offensive has had broad public support in Israel, where militants’ rockets — many of them intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system — have disrupted everyday life, but caused little damage and few casualties.
Commenting on Netanyahu’s remarks, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said: “The only way to achieve security is to afford security to the Palestinians first and to lift the blockade and to agree to their demands.”
On Saturday, Osama Hamdan, the head of Hamas’ foreign affairs, said on Facebook: “Israel must accept the demands of the Palestinian people or face a long war.”
Egypt, which is mediating between the sides and, like Israel, views Hamas as a security threat, has given little detail on any progress in the talks.
“As of now, Israel has not agreed to any proposals,” an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity.
The UN said 425,000 people in Gaza have been displaced by the war. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the enclave says 1,980 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict.
On the Israeli side, 64 soldiers and three civilians have died.
Egyptian and Palestinian sources have said that at the Cairo talks, Israel had tentatively agreed to relax curbs on the movement of people and goods across the border, subject to certain conditions.
Israeli Minister of Communications Gilad Erdan, a member of Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet, said Jerusalem was examining a proposal made by Egypt as a whole and had yet to make any final decision.
“There are sections that are problematic as far as Israel is concerned,” Erdan said on Israel Radio, without elaborating.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique