The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it is maintaining contact with Taiwanese in Israel and working with international partners to provide humanitarian aid to locals.
Israel and Hamas on Wednesday announced a four-day truce that is to include the release of 50 women and children held hostage in Gaza in return for 150 Palestinian women and children in Israeli jails.
The ministry expressed hope that the agreement would lead to peace, and help with subsequent mediation and communication, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Anthony Ho (賀忠義) told a regular news briefing.
Photo: Yang Hsiao-ju, Taipei Times
Among the 135 Taiwanese known to be in Israel, 11 are students, 76 have settled in the country due to marriage and 48 are family members of Taiwanese living in Israel or short-term residents, Ho said.
The government will continue to follow the situation in Israel and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Tel Aviv will provide timely assistance to Taiwanese when needed, he said.
Following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants, the ministry arranged a charter flight to evacuate Taiwanese on Oct. 20, helping 166 Taiwanese depart.
A Taiwanese-Israeli couple and their two children on Nov. 3 departed on a charter flight arranged by the Japanese government.
The ministry is to continue to help Taiwanese in Israel who would like to leave the country, either by air — as some local civil aviation services are still operating — or by land via Jordan, where Taiwan has an office that can provide assistance, Ho said.
The ministry will pass on information to Taiwanese in Israel about evacuation flights arranged by like-minded countries, he said.
Taiwan is working with international partners and non-governmental organizations on plans to provide humanitarian relief to civilians affected by the war, he said.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese university students studying in Israel can continue their education in Taiwan through a program drawn up by the Ministry of Education.
Those who would like to transfer to universities in Taiwan at the same level or apply for higher-level programs can contact the education ministry at (02) 7736-6045 for details, the ministry said.
Universities are to help make arrangements for those who apply under such circumstances, it said.
Police have issued warnings against traveling to Cambodia or Thailand when others have paid for the travel fare in light of increasing cases of teenagers, middle-aged and elderly people being tricked into traveling to these countries and then being held for ransom. Recounting their ordeal, one victim on Monday said she was asked by a friend to visit Thailand and help set up a bank account there, for which they would be paid NT$70,000 to NT$100,000 (US$2,136 to US$3,051). The victim said she had not found it strange that her friend was not coming along on the trip, adding that when she
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
The Civil Aviation Administration yesterday said that it is considering punishments for China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines for making hard landings and overworking their cabin crew when the nation was hit by Typhoon Kong-rey in October last year. The civil aviation authority launched an investigation after media reported that many airlines were forced to divert their flights to different airports or go around after failing to land when the typhoon affected the nation on Oct. 30 and 31 last year. The agency reviewed 503 flights dispatched by Taiwanese airlines during those two days, as well as weather data, flight hours
Three people have had their citizenship revoked after authorities confirmed that they hold Chinese ID cards, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday. Two of the three people were featured in a recent video about Beijing’s “united front” tactics by YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), including Su Shi-en (蘇士恩), who displayed a Chinese ID card in the video, and taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲), who mentioned he had obtained a Chinese ID card in a telephone call with Chen, Liang told the council’s weekly news conference. Lee, who reportedly worked in
RSS