Israeli troops yesterday battled Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, with no sign of a letup in the war despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an “immediate ceasefire.”
The resolution was adopted on Monday after Israel’s closest ally the US abstained amid growing concern for the worsening humanitarian situation after nearly six months of war.
The text demands an “immediate ceasefire” for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan, leading to a “lasting” truce.
Photo: Reuters
It also demands that Hamas and other militants free hostages they took during the unprecedented attacks on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, although it does not directly link the release to a truce.
In Gaza, there was intense fighting overnight, with Israeli operations in and around at least three major hospitals in the besieged territory.
The Israeli military said its jets had struck more than 60 targets in Gaza in the past 24 hours, including tunnels, infrastructure and military structures “in which armed terrorists were identified.”
The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said 70 people were killed early yesterday, 13 of them in Israeli airstrikes around the southern city of Rafah.
The UN Security Council resolution was the first since the Gaza war erupted to demand an immediate halt to the fighting.
After the vote, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres led calls for the resolution to be implemented.
“Failure would be unforgivable,” he wrote on social media.
Israel reacted furiously to the US abstention, while Washington insisted that it did not mark a shift in policy, although it has been taking a tougher line with Israel.
The US had previously vetoed successive draft resolutions calling for a ceasefire, but it has become increasingly concerned by the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the UN has warned of famine in the north by May if urgent action is not taken.
Washington has also baulked at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s determination to launch an assault on Rafah, the last major population center untouched by Israeli ground troops where most of Gaza’s population has sought refuge from the fighting.
In protest at the US’ abstention in the UN vote, which it said “hurts” both its war effort and attempts to release hostages, Israel canceled a planned visit to Washington by a high-ranking delegation.
Hamas welcomed the resolution and reaffirmed its readiness to negotiate the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
In a statement, the militant group blamed Israel for the failure to make progress in the latest round of talks hosted by Qatar.
Hamas said Netanyahu and his Cabinet were “entirely responsible for the failure of negotiation efforts and for preventing an agreement from being reached up until now.”
Netanyahu’s office hit back on social media, charging that Hamas was “not interested in continuing negotiations” as it had been emboldened by the UN Security Council vote.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was in Tehran yesterday for talks with Iranian officials, state media reported. It was Haniyeh’s second visit to key backer Iran since the start of the war.
In the occupied West Bank, German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
She welcomed the US Security Council resolution and said it was “in the absolute interest of the people of Israel that we come to a ceasefire now so that the hostages can be released.”
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS