Israeli troops killed two Hamas militants in a shootout 2km inside Gaza yesterday, a day after Israeli leaders authorized larger numbers of ground forces to enter the volatile territory on pinpoint missions against Hamas rocket squads.
In another raid, in the West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli troops arrested Palestinian Legislator Jamal Tirawi of Fatah, who has close ties to the movement's violent offshoot, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, and was wanted for involvement in attacks on Israel.
In the past year, Israel has arrested scores of Hamas lawmakers, but Tirawi was the first to be detained from Fatah, which is led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israel launched its latest military campaign in Gaza two weeks ago in an effort to curb Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli border communities.
Abbas has called on militants to take the first step in forging a new truce with Israel.
Israel's predawn foray yesterday into southern Gaza marked the second time in the latest round of fighting that Israeli forces entered the area, which Israel evacuated in September 2005.
Details of the raid were murky. Witnesses said forces searched three houses and arrested two brothers with ties to Hamas. At some point, a gunbattle erupted, and two militants were killed.
Abbas, meanwhile, appealed to militant groups to initiate a cease-fire with Israel, saying the alternative would be the collapse of the Palestinian coalition government.
The militants have said there could be no truce if Israel keeps up its attacks and refuses to extend any Gaza cease-fire to the West Bank. In an interview on Monday, Abbas said Palestinians should take the first step.
In unusually harsh criticism of the militants, Abbas said the rocket attacks are pointless.
"We say the Israelis have left Gaza, and all the settlements were dismantled. Who are we fighting? Why are we fighting?" Abbas said.
At a news conference yesterday, Abbas said he would meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert next week, keeping alive a US-backed dialogue. Abbas proposed a new truce between militants and Israel.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in