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.
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session yesterday while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival- threatening
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS