Israel reopened its border crossings with the Gaza Strip yesterday to allow a trickle of goods into the territory, putting a rocky ceasefire back on course after Palestinian rocket fire last week led to a closure of the passages.
The Sufa cargo crossing was open yesterday morning and around 80 trucks were expected to cross during the day, said Ziad al-Zaza, the national economy minister in Gaza’s Hamas government. More were expected to go through today, he said.
Israel closed the crossings last Wednesday after Gaza militants fired three rockets into Israel — the first such attack since the truce went into effect on June 19. More rockets were fired the next day.
Militants behind the attacks said they were in response to Israeli attacks in the West Bank. The truce reached between Israel and Gaza militants does not apply to the West Bank, but violence there has spilled over into Gaza and threatened the agreement.
YOUTH KILLED
Early yesterday, Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian youth during a patrol in the West Bank. The Israeli military said a Palestinian attacked soldiers with two firebombs in the village of Tubas and the soldiers shot him.
Ayman Abdel Razek, 40, a resident of Tubas, said the troops shot the 17-year-old after midnight, a time when village youths often throw stones at army patrols. The youth was unarmed, he said.
SIMILAR INCIDENT
It was the second such incident in two days in the West Bank. In a similar incident on Friday, soldiers shot and killed another Palestinian 17-year-old near the West Bank town of Hebron. Israeli and Palestinian officials said the youth was throwing Molotov cocktails at an army patrol.
The Israeli military said its sensing equipment picked up the launch of a mortar shell from Gaza on Saturday, but it was unclear where it hit. No casualties or damage were reported, and no militant group took responsibility.
Israel sealed Gaza’s borders a year ago after Hamas militants violently seized control of the territory, allowing only basic humanitarian goods into the area.
It tightened the blockade in response to continued rocket fire on southern Israeli towns. The sanctions have caused widespread shortages of basic goods in Gaza.
Under the ceasefire, Israel has pledged to gradually increase the flow of goods into Gaza. It has said it will only allow the reopening of Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt — the main gateway to the outside world for Gaza’s 1.4 million people — if Hamas returns an Israeli soldier captured two years ago.
Egyptian mediators are trying to broker a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas that would bring the soldier home.
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: MOFA demanded Beijing stop its military intimidation and ‘irrational behavior’ that endanger peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region The Presidential Office yesterday called on China to stop all “provocative acts,” saying ongoing Chinese military activity in the nearby waters of Taiwan was a “blatant disruption” of the “status quo” of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Defense officials said they have detected Chinese ships since Monday, both off Taiwan and farther out along the first island chain. They described the formations as two walls designed to demonstrate that the waters belong to China. The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it had detected 53 military aircraft operating around the nation over the past 24 hours, as well
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
FORUM QUARREL: China’s TAO took unfriendly action against Taiwan with its ‘22 guidelines’ against ‘independence diehards’ and reporting system, the council said The government’s denial of permits for Shanghai Municipal Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Jin Mei (金梅) and nine Chinese journalists to attend the Twin-City Forum in Taipei next week were to protest against and express disapproval of China’s 22-point set of “guidelines” to penalize “diehard” Taiwanese independence separatists, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Beijing on June 21 unveiled the “22 guidelines” that allow its courts to try “Taiwan independence separatists” in absentia, with the death sentence applicable. The government must review permit applications based on the cross-strait situation, the MAC said. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office took unfriendly action against Taiwan
RSS