The first aid trucks yesterday arrived in the war-torn Gaza Strip from Egypt, bringing humanitarian relief to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave suffering what the head of the UN labeled a “godawful nightmare.”
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the Islamist militant group carried out the deadliest attack in the country’s history on Oct. 7.
Hamas militants killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death on the first day of the raid, and took more than 200 hostages, Israeli officials said.
Photo: AFP
Israel says that about 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in clashes before its army regained control of the area under attack.
Israel has retaliated with a heavy bombing campaign on Gaza that has killed thousands and cut food, water, electricity and fuel supplies to the densely populated and long-blockaded territory of 2.4 million people, sparking fears of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Agence France-Presse journalists yesterday saw 20 trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent Society, which is responsible for delivering aid from various UN agencies, pass through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into Gaza.
The crossing — the only one into Gaza not controlled by Israel — closed again after the trucks passed.
The trucks had been waiting for days on the Egyptian side after Israel agreed to allow aid to enter following a request from its top ally the US.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said the convoy “must not be the last” and that the delivery would start “a sustainable effort to provide essential supplies” to Gaza.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday said that the aid was “the difference between life and death” for many Gazans, more than 1 million of whom have been displaced.
“Much more” aid needs to be sent, he told a peace summit in Egypt yesterday.
“The time has come for action to end this godawful nightmare,” he said, calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire.”
Israel’s military campaign against Hamas has leveled entire city blocks in Gaza, killing more than 4,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, the Hamas-run health ministry said.
Israeli troops are massed on the Gaza border ahead of an expected ground invasion that officials have pledged will begin “soon.”
A full-blown Israeli land offensive carries many risks, including to the more than 200 hostages Hamas took during their raid and whose fate is shrouded in uncertainty.
So the release of the first two hostages — American mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan — offered a rare “sliver of hope,” International Committee of the Red Cross president Mirjana Spoljaric said.
US President Joe Biden said he was “overjoyed” and thanked Qatar, which hosts Hamas’ political bureau, for its mediation in securing the release.
He said he was working “around the clock” to win the return of other Americans being held.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
South Korea yesterday said that it was removing loudspeakers used to blare K-pop and news reports to North Korea, as the new administration in Seoul tries to ease tensions with its bellicose neighbor. The nations, still technically at war, had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. It said in June that Pyongyang stopped transmitting bizarre, unsettling noises along the border that had become a major nuisance for South Korean residents, a day after South Korea’s loudspeakers fell silent. “Starting today, the military has begun removing the loudspeakers,”
RSS