The Israeli army yesterday bombed Gaza and battled Hamas fighters as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was back in Israel on a regional tour aimed at stopping the war from escalating across the Middle East.
The Israeli army said its forces had killed 40 militants over the previous 24 hours in “expanded ground operations including airstrikes” in Khan Yunis, and that troops had seized AK-47 assault rifles, rocket launchers and other weapons.
Since the war broke out with the Hamas attack of Oct. 7 last year, fears have grown of an escalating conflict between Israel and its other regional enemies, a loose alliance of armed groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Photo: EPA-EFE / Israeli government press office
Israel has traded cross-border fire with Hezbollah for more than three months and killed senior operatives of the Shiite Muslim militant group, as well as of Hamas, on Lebanese soil, sparking anger and threats of retaliation.
Hezbollah yesterday said that it had launched a drone attack on Israel’s “northern command center” in the city of Safed as part of its response to the killings of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri and Hezbollah field commander Wissam Tawil.
The Israeli army confirmed that a “hostile aircraft” had come down at one of its bases in the north and said that “no injuries or damage were reported.”
The US secretary of state — on his fourth Middle East tour since the war broke out — was back in Israel where he held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Blinken earlier said these were “incredibly challenging times for Israel,” the fate of hostages remaining in Gaza and “the relentless efforts to bring everyone home,” after talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
He also voiced the hope that, after the war, Israel could push its regional integration efforts.
“I think there actually are real opportunities there, but we have to get through this very challenging moment,” Blinken said after meeting Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz.
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’