Israel’s minister of defense yesterday warned that Gaza’s largest city would be destroyed unless Hamas yields to Israel’s terms, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would authorize the military to mount a major operation to seize Gaza City.
Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz said that the city could “turn into Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” areas reduced to rubble earlier in the war.
“The gates of hell will soon open on the heads of Hamas’ murderers and rapists in Gaza — until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war,” Katz wrote on X.
Photo: Reuters
He restated Israel’s ceasefire demands: the release of all hostages and Hamas’ complete disarmament.
Hamas has said it would release captives in exchange for ending the war, but rejects disarmament without the creation of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu on Thursday said he had instructed officials “to begin immediate negotiations” to release hostages and end the war on acceptable terms — Israel’s first public response to the latest ceasefire proposal.
With ground troops already active in strategic areas, the wide-scale operation in Gaza City could start within days.
Hamas earlier this week said that it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal from Arab mediators, which — if accepted by Israel — could forestall the offensive.
The parties do not negotiate directly and similar announcements have been made in the past that did not lead to ceasefires.
The proposal outlines a phased deal involving hostage and prisoner exchanges, and a pullback of Israeli troops, while talks continue on a longer-term ceasefire.
Many Israelis fear an assault could doom the roughly 20 hostages who have survived captivity since the Hamas-led militants’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Aid groups and international leaders warn it would worsen Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.
The logistics of evacuating civilians are expected to be daunting. Many residents say repeated displacement is pointless since nowhere in Gaza is safe, while medical groups warn Israel’s calls to move patients south is unworkable, with no facilities to receive them.
Meanwhile, Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital said at least 17 Palestinians were killed yesterday, as Israel escalates its activity in the area in the lead-up to its broader planned offensive.
An Israeli airstrike hit a school in Sheikh Radwan, a Gaza City neighborhood where tens of Palestinians shelter in makeshift tents in the schoolyard.
It killed at least seven people, according to an eyewitness and hospital records.
Israel’s military said it was not aware of a strike in the area.
The strike is part of Israel’s ongoing push in Gaza City, where the military says it is operating and witnesses have reported intense bombardment in the days since Israel approved its plans to take the city.
Amal Aboul Aas, who is now sheltering in Gaza City after being displaced four times, said the explosions were so intense she could not sleep, yet she could not leave either.
“We do not have the money, the resources or the energy to evacuate again. I just wish for a quick death right where I am here because I am not going anywhere. Eventually one of these missiles will hit me,” she said.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
RSS