Hamas arrested seven Palestinians who fired rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip on Thursday, a militant faction said, in the first such detentions since the Islamist group and Israel agreed a truce last month.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a group linked to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah group, said Hamas men pursued three of its members after the attack and “abducted them” in the Jabalya refugee camp.
No one was hurt in the strike with two rockets on southern Israel.
Four more men were arrested as they tried to fire rockets at Israel after darkness fell, an al-Aqsa official said.
“We demand their immediate release,” said Abu Qusai, a brigades spokesman.
Afterwards, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said “we stress that all parties should maintain the national agreement that was reached with a consensus.”
Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip a year ago after routing forces loyal to the secular Fatah group, had previously said it would not use force against other militants who violate the truce.
Al-Aqsa said it launched the rockets in retaliation for the Israeli army’s killing of an unarmed member of the group as he tried to cross a border fence into Israel earlier in the day. His death marked the first fatality along the Israel-Gaza border since the June 19 Egyptian-brokered ceasefire.
An Israeli army spokesman said soldiers shot the man after he ignored their calls to stop and only saw later that he was unarmed.
The ceasefire deal calls on Hamas to prevent cross-border rocket fire and attacks from the Gaza Strip and for Israel to halt its raids and ease an economic blockade.
“If a total cessation of fire from Gaza, as committed in the calm, is not implemented, the calm has no possibility to succeed,” Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s spokesman, Mark Regev, said.
Israel tightened restrictions on the passage of people and goods to the impoverished territory after Hamas’s takeover.
“There is not enough fuel, not enough food, there is not enough of anything,” said John Ging, an official with the UN Relief and Works Agency, which aids refugees.
Although Israel has responded to rocket fire by frequently shutting Gaza’s crossings, records compiled by Western officials show up to a 44 percent increase in goods imports in recent weeks, including a 30 percent rise in fuel.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops killed an armed Palestinian in a clash in the West Bank early yesterday, the military and Palestinian officials said, in an incident that also left an Israeli officer wounded.
The gunman opened fire on an Israeli civilian driving near the Palestinian town of Qalqilya just after midnight, the military said, and then opened fire on troops who arrived at the scene.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College