Israel yesterday bombarded Gaza and pressed its ground operations after issuing what it called a “last warning” for the return of hostages and for Hamas to be removed from power.
Airstrikes began in Gaza early on Tuesday, killing more than 400 people, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Gaza rescuers said that at least 10 more people were killed in a pre-dawn bombing near Khan Yunis yesterday.
Photo: AFP
On Wednesday, the Israeli military announced it had resumed ground operations “in the central and southern Gaza Strip to expand the security perimeter and create a partial buffer between the north and south.”
“We’re digging with our bare hands,” said a man trying to dislodge a body from a heap of concrete in Gaza City.
After Israel urged civilians to leave areas it described as “combat zones,” people filled the roads leading out of northern Gaza.
Fred Oola, senior medical officer at the Red Cross field hospital in Rafah, said that the renewed strikes shattered the relative calm of the past two months.
“Now, we can feel the panic in the air ... and we can see the pain and devastation in the faces of those we are helping,” Oola added.
Addressing the “residents of Gaza” — governed by Hamas since 2007 — Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz said in a video: “This is the last warning.”
“Take the advice of the president of the United States. Return the hostages and remove Hamas, and other options will open up for you — including the possibility of leaving for other places in the world for those who want to,” Katz said, an apparent reference to a warning earlier this month by US President Donald Trump, who said: “To the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD!”
Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, 58 are still held by Gaza militants, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
RSS