Hamas yesterday said Israel has gravely endangered a five-week-old truce in the Gaza Strip by delaying the release of Palestinian prisoners under the deal because of the manner it has freed Israeli hostages.
The first phase of the truce ends early next month and details of a planned subsequent phase have not been agreed.
With tensions again hanging over the deal — which halted more than 15 months of war — Israel yesterday announced an expansion of military operations in the occupied West Bank.
Photo: AFP
The military said a tank division would be sent in to the West Bank city of Jenin, the first such deployment to the territory in 20 years.
Since the Gaza ceasefire’s first phase began on Jan. 19, Hamas has released 25 living Israeli hostages in ceremonies before crowds at locations in Gaza.
Armed masked fighters escort the captives onto stages adorned with slogans. The hostages have spoken and waved in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called “humiliating ceremonies.”
The Red Cross appealed to “all parties” for the swaps to be carried out in a “dignified and private” manner.
In the seventh transfer on Saturday, Hamas released six Israeli captives, but Israel put off the planned release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said that postponing the release exposes “the entire agreement to grave danger.”
Naim said the mediators, “especially the Americans,” must pressure Israel’s government “to implement the agreement as it is and immediately release our prisoners.”
Both sides have accused each other of violations during the ceasefire, but it has so far held.
Early yesterday, Netanyahu’s office said that “in light of Hamas’ repeated violations — including the disgraceful ceremonies that dishonor our hostages and the cynical use of hostages for propaganda — it has been decided to delay the release of terrorists.”
The war started after Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, attacked Israel, killing more than 1,200 people. Israel’s retaliation killed more than 48,000, according to figures from both sides.
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS