Israeli troops killed a Palestinian schoolboy yesterday as both sides mourned their dead after annual Palestinian protests against the founding of Israel.
However, the US appeared to be stepping up diplomatic efforts to stem an eight-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
PHOTO: REUTERS
A senior Palestinian official said preparations were under way for Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and US Secretary of State Colin Powell to meet next Wednesday in Paris. The meeting would be the highest-level Palestinian contact with the Bush administration, following a meeting on Tuesday between Powell and senior Palestinian official Mahmoud Abbas.
And Arafat yesterday called in Cairo again for a new summit to be held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss the report of the US-led Mitchell commission into violence between Israel and the Palestinians.
Arafat met the leaders of Israel and the US in Sharm el-Sheikh last October at a summit that led to the creation of the Mitchell commission, charging it to look into the nearly eight months of violence.
"The commission was set up by the Sharm el-Sheikh summit, and that summit must reconvene to discuss the commission's report," Arafat told a press conference at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo.
Despite that, violence continued to take its toll.
Fifteen-year-old Mohammed Salim was shot dead as he passed an Israeli army watchtower near the heavily guarded Jewish settlement of Netzarim in Gaza Strip, hospital officials said. Palestinian hospital workers at the scene said he had been carrying his schoolbag and had been shot without provocation. The Israeli military said it could not immediately give details.
Palestinian anger had already been fuelled by the killing by Israeli troops of five Palestinian paramilitary policemen in the West Bank on Monday.
Tensions remained high a day after hundreds of thousands of Palestinians took to the streets to mark the Nakba, or "catastrophe," when some 700,000 Palestinians were forced out or fled in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war following Israel's creation. The day is the most emotionally charged in the Palestinian political calendar, and during Tuesday's protests Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinians and wounded more than 200.
A 21-year-old Jewish settler, Idit Mizrahi, was also shot dead by Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank on Tuesday.
In a defiant address broadcast on Tuesday by Palestinian media, Arafat vowed that Israeli military might would never make Palestinians surrender their dream of independence.
He said the only way to achieve peace was through full withdrawal of "the occupation army and settlers" from all Arab lands seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
RSS