Gaza’s civil defense agency and eyewitnesses yesterday reported Israeli shelling in the central city of Deir al-Balah, after the military warned of imminent action in an area where it had not previously operated.
The Israeli military on Sunday ordered those in the central Gaza area to leave immediately as it was expanding operations, including “in an area where it has not operated before” in more than 21 months of war.
Between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area when the evacuation order was issued, according to initial estimates from the UN, with whole families seen carrying what few belongings they had on donkey carts heading south.
Photo: Reuters
Deir al-Balah resident Abdullah Abu Saleem, 48, said that “during the night, we heard huge and powerful explosions shaking the area as if it were an earthquake.”
He said that this was “due to artillery shelling in the south-central part of Deir al-Balah and the southeastern area.”
“We are extremely worried and fearful that the army is planning a ground operation in Deir al-Balah and the central camps, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering,” he added.
Gaza civil defense agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that “we received calls from several families trapped in the al-Baraka area of Deir al-Balah due to shelling by Israeli tanks.”
“There are a number of wounded, but no one can reach the area to evacuate them,” he said.
The Israeli military did not provide immediate comment when contacted.
Hamdi Abu Mughseeb, 50, said that he and his family had fled northward from their tent south of Deir al-Balah at dawn following a night of intense artillery shelling, which he said was “still ongoing.”
“We saw tanks advancing over a kilometer from the Khan Yunis direction toward the southeast of Deir al-Balah,” he said. “There is no safe place anywhere in the Gaza Strip... I don’t know where we can go.”
Earlier on Sunday, the Gaza civil defense agency said that Israeli forces opened fire on crowds of Palestinians trying to collect humanitarian aid, killing 93 people and wounding dozens more.
Eighty were killed as truckloads of aid arrived in the north, while nine others were reportedly shot near an aid point close to Rafah in the south, where dozens of people lost their lives just 24 hours earlier.
Four were killed near another aid site in Khan Yunis, Basal said.
The UN World Food Programme said its 25-truck convoy carrying food aid “encountered massive crowds of hungry civilians which came under gunfire” near Gaza City, soon after it crossed from Israel and cleared checkpoints.
Israel’s military disputed the death toll and said soldiers had fired warning shots “to remove an immediate threat posed to them” as thousands gathered near Gaza City.
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
KEY INDUSTRY: The vice premier discussed a plan to create a non-red drone supply chain by next year, which has been allocated a budget of more than NT$7.2 billion The government has budgeted NT$44.2 billion (US$1.38 billion) to cultivate Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry over the next five years, which would make the nation a major player in the industry’s democratic supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho made the remarks during a visit to the facilities of Cub Elecparts Inc (為升電裝). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝依鳳) also participated in the trip. Cub Elecparts has transitioned from the automotive industry to the defense industry, which is the top priority among the nation’s
UPGRADED MISSILE: The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is reportedly to conduct a live-fire test of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile on Thursday next week The US Army is planning to build new facilities to boost explosives production and strengthen its supply chain, a move aimed at addressing munitions shortages and supporting obligations to partners including Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel, Defense News reported. The army has issued a sources sought notice for a proposed Center of Excellence at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, the report said. The facility would serve as a hub within the US industrial base for the production of key military explosives, including research department explosives (RDX) and high melting explosives (HMX), while also supporting research and development of next-generation materials. The proposed
RSS