The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday called for a restoration of peace in the Middle East amid an escalation of fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants.
“We urge the relevant parties to work to reduce conflicts and restore peace so that civilian casualties can be avoided,” ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a regular news briefing in Taipei.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Tel Aviv has confirmed that all Taiwanese in the country are safe, she said.
The ministry has instructed the representative office to continue to monitor the situation, Ou said, adding that Taiwan would, if necessary, activate emergency plans for the safety of its nationals in the region.
Taiwan does not have a representative office in the Palestinian Territories, with its offices in Israel and Jordan handling consular affairs for those in the territories.
Fighting between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants erupted on Monday following a raid by Israeli police in Jerusalem on Friday last week that left at least 178 Palestinian protesters and six police officers wounded, foreign media reported.
Militants in Gaza responded by firing rockets at Israel, prompting the military to launch retaliatory airstrikes, the reports said.
At least 83 Palestinians have been reported killed in Gaza and seven people have died in Israel since the violence erupted on Monday.
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Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
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