Israel and Hamas yesterday both dampened hopes of a speedy breakthrough in Cairo talks toward a Gaza truce and hostage release deal after Egyptian state-linked media had reported “significant progress.”
As the Gaza war raged on into a seventh month, Israel is under growing international pressure to agree to a ceasefire, including from its top ally and arms supplier the US.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that Israel is “one step away from victory” and has vowed to defeat remaining Hamas fighters in Gaza’s southern Rafah city.
Photo: AFP
However, on the same day, the army also announced it had pulled its forces out of southern Gaza, although military commanders stressed that the withdrawal was tactical and did not signal an end to the war.
Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said the troops would “prepare for future missions, including ... in Rafah” on the Egyptian border, where almost 1.5 million Gazans live in crowded shelters and tents.
Amid the threats and ongoing fighting, Netanyahu has sent negotiators to fresh truce talks that started in Cairo on Sunday, joined by US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
US President Joe Biden sent CIA Director William Burns to the talks, three days after a terse telephone call with Netanyahu in which Biden demanded a halt to the fighting, and greater steps to help and protect Gaza civilians.
Egypt’s state-linked news outlet al-Qahera reported “significant progress being made on several contentious points of agreement,” citing an unnamed high-ranking Egyptian source.
The Qatari and Hamas delegations had left Cairo and were expected to return within two days to finalize the terms of the agreement, it said, while the US and Israeli teams were also planning 48 hours of consultations.
However, Israel’s Ynet news outlet cited an unidentified Israeli official as tempering the upbeat Egyptian report and stressing that “we still don’t see a deal on the horizon.”
“The distance is still great and there has been nothing dramatic in the meantime,” the Israeli official was quoted as saying.
A senior Hamas official said that “we cannot speak of concrete progress so far,” with disagreement centered on the pace of displaced Palestinians returning to Gaza City in the north.
On Sunday, after Israeli forces left Khan Yunis, displaced Palestinians streamed back to the city, stunned by the level of destruction.
“We don’t have a city anymore — only rubble,” said Maha Thaer, a mother of four, as she walked among the charred ruins.
“There is absolutely nothing left. I could not stop myself crying as I walked through the streets,” said the 38-year-old, whose home was partially destroyed.
“All the streets have been bulldozed, and the smell... I watched people digging and bringing out the bodies,” she said.
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
CAUTION URGED: Xiaohongshu and Douyin — the Chinese version of TikTok — are tools the Chinese government uses for its ‘united front’ propaganda, the MAC said Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) yesterday urged people who use Chinese social media platforms to be cautious of being influenced by Beijing’s “united front” propaganda and undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty. Chiu made the remarks in response to queries about Chinese academic Zhang Weiwei (張維為) saying that as young Taiwanese are fond of interacting on Chinese app Xiaohongshu (小紅書, known as RedNote in English), “after unification with China, it would be easier to govern Taiwan than Hong Kong.” Zhang is professor of international relations at Shanghai’s Fudan University and director of its China Institute. When giving a speech at China’s Wuhan
ENHANCE DETERRENCE: Taiwan has to display ‘fierce resolve’ to defend itself for China to understand that the costs of war outweigh potential gains, Koo said Taiwan’s armed forces must reach a high level of combat readiness by 2027 to effectively deter a potential Chinese invasion, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said in an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) published yesterday. His comments came three days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the US Senate that deterring a Chinese attack on Taiwan requires making a conflict “cost more than what it’s worth.” Rubio made the remarks in response to a question about US policy on Taiwan’s defense from Republican Senator John Cornyn, who said that Chinese
RSS