UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres flew to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula yesterday in a push to get aid flowing into the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza, but it was unclear when delivery of relief materials stockpiled in Egypt would start.
In Geneva, Switzerland, the UN humanitarian office said it was in advanced talks with all parties in the Israel-Hamas conflict to ensure an aid operation can soon be conducted in Gaza.
The US said details of a deal to send aid through the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza were still being hammered out.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Earlier, Washington said agreement had been reached for the passage of the first 20 trucks, but UN officials said that any delivery of aid needs to be done at scale and in a sustained way.
Before the current conflict between Israel and Hamas, which controls Gaza, about 450 aid trucks were arriving there daily.
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people depend on humanitarian aid.
“We are in deep and advanced negotiations with all relevant sides to ensure that an aid operation into Gaza starts as quickly as possible and with the right conditions,” UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs spokesperson Jens Laerke told reporters.
In related news, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday said a chartered plane has been arranged to evacuate Taiwanese from Israel, which was to depart from Tel Aviv at about 5:40pm yesterday Taipei time, making a stopover at Fiumicino International Airport in Rome, and was expected to arrive in Rome at about 8:25pm yesterday Taipei time.
Wu said as of yesterday afternoon there were 16 people that were to take the chartered flight, including nine Taiwanese, and that five of them are a family, three are backpackers, and one is a student; while the other seven people are from diplomatic allies — six from Guatemala and one from Paraguay.
As of yesterday morning, there were still 137 Taiwanese in Israel who were not willing to take the evacuation flight, Wu said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
RSS