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.
ANNOUNCEMENT: People who do not comply with the ban after a spoken warning would be reported to the police, the airport company said on Friday Taoyuan International Airport Corp on Friday announced that riding on vehicles, including scooter-suitcases (also known as “scootcases”), bicycles, scooters and skateboards, is prohibited in the airport’s terminals. Those using such vehicles should manually pull them or place them on luggage trolleys, the company said in a Facebook post. The ban intends to maintain order and protect travelers’ safety, as the airport often sees large crowds of people, it said, adding that it has stepped up publicity for the regulation, and those who do not comply after a spoken warning would be reported to the police. The company yesterday said that
QUIET START: Nearly a week after applications opened, agencies did not announce or promote the program, nor did they explain how it differed from other visitor visas Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts. To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in
NEW YEAR’S ADDRESS: ‘No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path,’ William Lai said, urging progress ‘without looking back’ President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday urged parties across the political divide to democratically resolve conflicts that have plagued domestic politics within Taiwan’s constitutional system. In his first New Year’s Day address since becoming president on May 20 last year, Lai touched on several issues, including economic and security challenges, but a key emphasis was on the partisan wrangling that has characterized his first seven months in office. Taiwan has transformed from authoritarianism into today’s democracy and that democracy is the future, Lai said. “No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path for Taiwan,” he said. “The only choice
UNITY MESSAGE: Rather than focusing on what Trump said on the campaign trail about Taiwan, Taipei should be willing to engage with the US, Pompeo said Taiwan plays a key role in Washington’s model of deterrence against China, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a speech in Taipei yesterday. During US president-elect Donald Trump’s first term, “we had developed what we believe was a pretty effective model of deterrence against adversaries who wanted to undermine the set of rules and values that the people of Taiwan and the people of the US hold dear,” Pompeo said at a forum organized by the Formosa Republican Association. “Succeeding in continuing to build this model will not solely rest at the feet of president Trump and his team,
RSS