Hamas says it releases two female captives for health reasons - CNA

GAZA: The armed wing of the Palestinian Hamas militant group said on Monday (Oct 23) it had released two Israeli women on health grounds as sources said the United States had advised Israel to hold off on a ground assault in the Gaza Strip.

"We decided to release them for humanitarian and poor health grounds," Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the armed wing, said on Telegram. A source said they were elderly Israelis, identified by Israeli media as Nurit Cooper and Yocheved Lifshitz.

They were freed following the release of an American woman and her daughter on Friday. All four were among more than 200 people Hamas gunmen took hostage in an Oct 7 cross-border assault in which they killed 1,400 people.

In public, the United States has stressed Israel's right to defend itself but two sources familiar with the matter said the White House, Pentagon and State Department have stepped up private appeals for caution in conversations with the Israelis.

A US priority is to gain time for negotiations to free other hostages, especially after Friday's unexpected release of Americans Judith and Natalie Raanan on Friday, said the sources, who spoke before the hostage releases were announced on Monday.

Asked about the possibility of a ceasefire, US President Joe Biden said: ""We should have those hostages released and then we can talk."

Israel's Channel 12 said on Monday that the third and fourth hostages had been released and that families had been informed. Egypt's Extra News TV showed footage of two captives being transferred to ambulances at Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials.

Israel pounded hundreds of targets in Gaza from the air on Monday as its soldiers fought Hamas militants during raids into the besieged Palestinian strip where deaths are soaring and civilians are trapped in harrowing conditions.

Gaza's health ministry said 436 people had been killed in bombardments over the last 24 hours, most in the south of the narrow, densely populated territory, next to which Israeli troops and tanks have massed for a possible ground invasion.

The Israeli military said it had struck more than 320 targets in Gaza over 24 hours, including a tunnel housing Hamas fighters, dozens of command and lookout posts, and mortar and anti-tank missile launcher positions.

The Israeli bombardment was triggered by the Oct 7 assault, the bloodiest episode in a single day since the state of Israel was founded 75 years ago.

With Gaza's 2.3 million people running short of basics, European leaders looked set to follow the United Nations and Arab nations in calling for a "humanitarian pause" in hostilities so aid could reach them.

A US special envoy is negotiating with Israel, Egypt and the United Nations to create a "sustained delivery mechanism" to get aid into Gaza after aid convoys began crossing into the strip from Egypt, the US State Department said on Monday.

The UN said desperate Gazans also lacked places to shelter from the unrelenting pounding that has flattened swathes of the Hamas-ruled enclave.

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2023-10-23 20:03:42Z
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Israel bombards Gaza as war spreads to other fronts - CNA

SPREADING VIOLENCE

Early on Monday, Israeli aircraft struck two Hezbollah cells in Lebanon that were planning to launch anti-tank missiles and rockets toward Israel, its military said. Israel's military also said it struck other Hezbollah targets, including a compound and an observation post.

Hezbollah said on Monday that one of its fighters was killed, without providing details. Israel's military said that seven soldiers have been killed on the Lebanese border since the latest conflict began.

In the West Bank, two Palestinians were killed at the Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday.

Residents told Reuters that Israeli forces raided the camp and made many arrests as they clashed with gunmen and some youths who threw stones. The Israeli army has not issued a statement about the incident.

China's Middle East special envoy Zhai Jun, who is visiting the region, warned that the risk of a large-scale ground conflict was rising and that spillover conflicts in the region were "worrisome", Chinese state media said on Monday.

Iranian security officials told Reuters that Iran's strategy was for Middle East proxies like Hezbollah to pursue limited strikes on Israeli and US targets but to avoid a major escalation that would draw in Tehran.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called for international unity to stop Israel's attacks in Gaza and allow aid. A second convoy of 14 aid trucks entered the Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza on Sunday night.

The White House said US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed in a call there would now be a continued flow of aid into Gaza.

The UN humanitarian office said that the volume of aid entering so far was just 4 per cent of the daily average before the hostilities and a fraction of what was needed.

The aid shipments did not include fuel.

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2023-10-23 09:29:35Z
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Philippines summons Chinese envoy over collisions in disputed waters - CNA

The Philippines has accused a China Coast Guard vessel of "reckless manoeuvres" that led to a collision with a wooden boat contracted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines to deliver provisions to troops on the BRP Sierra Madre.

China said the "slight collision" happened after the resupply boat ignored "multiple warnings and deliberately passed through law enforcement in an unprofessional and dangerous manner", state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday, citing the foreign ministry.

On Monday, China's embassy in Manila said it had lodged stern representations to the Philippines over the "trespassing" of its vessels at the shoal.

It also accused China of "deliberately obfuscating" the truth about Sunday's collision incident.

"What happened yesterday was a serious and egregious violation of international law and an escalation of their expansionist and aggressive action," Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro told a media briefing.

Meanwhile, a Chinese diplomat met with a Philippine official on Monday and "made solemn representations... on the trespassing of the Philippine vessels into the Ren'ai Reef area ... expressing strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to the trespassing," the embassy said, using China's name for the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands.

In another incident, a Philippine coastguard vessel escorting the routine resupply mission was "bumped" by what the Philippine task force described as a "Chinese Maritime Militia vessel".

China, however, accused the Philippine boat of "deliberately" stirring up trouble by reversing in a "premeditated manner" into a Chinese fishing vessel.

The Philippine Coast Guard has yet to evaluate the extent of damage to the supply boat's hull, but its spokesperson, Jay Tarriela said in the same news conference that it was "deep" and "more than a scratch".

Malaya accused China of "increasing tensions" in the South China Sea and maintained it was China's actions that caused Sunday's collision.

"We are relieved and thankful that no Filipino personnel were harmed. But we are concerned by the escalation and provocations by Chinese vessels who have no business being in the West Philippine Sea," Malaya said.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually, and has ignored an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

Second Thomas Shoal is about 200km from the western Philippine island of Palawan, and more than 1,000 kilometres from China's nearest major landmass, Hainan island.

As China moves ever more confidently to assert its claims to sovereignty over the waters, officials and experts have warned of the potential for collisions.

The Philippine Navy deliberately grounded the World War II-era BRP Sierra Madre on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to check China's advance in the waters.

The troops stationed on the crumbling ship depend on regular supply deliveries for their survival.

The Philippines has outposts on nine reefs and islands in the Spratlys, including Second Thomas Shoal.

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2023-10-23 02:11:00Z
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China says it uncovered another spying case in US - CNA

CCTV said a US professor close to Hou introduced him to someone who claimed to be an employee of a consulting company, but was actually an American "intelligence officer" using the company as his cover, CCTV said.

In the ensuing months as they became more friendly, the intelligence officer approached Hou to become a consulting expert at "his company", promising him a payment of US$600-US$700 each time for the quality of his service.

A few months later, while Hou's wife and son were visiting the US, the American revealed his true intentions and proposed a change in the way they cooperated. Hou, fearing for his wife's and son's safety, agreed to the terms, according to CCTV.

Under the arrangement, over many meetings, Hou would be asked to disclose highly classified secrets in hour-long sessions and would get US$1,000 as compensation, the report said.

The cooperation continued after Hou returned to China in 2014. He would meet with US intelligence while attending international conferences, CCTV said. He also provided intelligence information in the field of national defence and the military industry on his own initiative, the report said.

After investigations by the Chinese government, Hou was detained in July 2021 and charged on suspicion of espionage.

In recent years, China has arrested and detained dozens of Chinese and foreign nationals on suspicion of espionage, raising the concerns of the US over its counter-espionage push.

Recently, China's spy agency published new details about a US citizen jailed for life for espionage earlier this year.

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2023-10-22 23:39:00Z
CBMiW2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9jaGluYS1zYXlzLWl0LXVuY292ZXJlZC1hbm90aGVyLXNweWluZy1jYXNlLXVzLTM4NjQ2MTHSAQA

New aid convoy enters Gaza as Israel steps up strikes - CNA

RAFAH: Scores of Palestinians were killed in central Gaza on Sunday (Oct 22) after Israel stepped up its strikes on the war-torn enclave and another convoy of 17 aid trucks arrived as the Hamas-run territory faces "catastrophic" shortages.

With the violence raging unchecked, Iran said the region could spiral "out of control" and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stark warning to Lebanon's Hezbollah, saying getting involved would be "the mistake of its life".

Washington warned any actors looking to inflame the conflict that it would not hesitate to act in the event of any "escalation".

Hamas militants stormed across the border into Israel on Oct 7, launching a raid that killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death on the first day, according to Israeli officials.

They also seized more than 200 hostages in the worst-ever attack in Israel's history.

Israel has hit back with a relentless bombing campaign which has so far killed more than 4,600 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry, with officials saying the central town of Deir al-Balah had been particularly badly hit overnight.

The ministry said at least 80 people had been killed in the overnight raids on central Gaza which had destroyed more than 30 homes.

At the hospital morgue, an AFP journalist saw the bodies of many children on the bloodied floor, where distraught families wept as they identified the victims.

Among them was a man clutching his dead toddler and a young boy who pulled back a blanket over his little sister's body.

"My cousin was sleeping in his house with his daughter in his arms. He was a man with no record, nothing to do with the resistance," said Wael Wafi, gazing at the body of his cousin, his arm still wrapped around his three-year-old daughter Misk.

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2023-10-22 18:14:00Z
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Kayaker missing off the coast of Sentosa; search operation ongoing - CNA

SINGAPORE: A search is underway for a missing kayaker off Sentosa.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said on Sunday (Oct 22) that it was alerted at about 10.25am that a person was reported missing off the coast of Sentosa island.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) also said it was notified at around that time that a kayaker has been reported missing off Sentosa.

MPA has activated its patrol craft for the search and is coordinating efforts with the Police Coast Guard and the SCDF, MPA said in response to CNA queries.

"Navigation broadcast has been issued to alert ships in the vicinity to report any sighting of a person in distress in the vicinity."

An SCDF Marine Rescue Vessel, as well as divers from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART), was deployed for the search operation, added SCDF.

The search operation is ongoing.

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2023-10-22 11:46:00Z
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China, Philippines trade accusations over latest South China Sea clash - CNA

BEIJING: China and the Philippines traded accusations over a collision in disputed waters of the South China Sea as Chinese vessels blocked a Philippine boat supplying forces there on Sunday (Oct 22), the latest in a series of maritime confrontations. 

The two countries have had numerous run-ins in areas of the South China Sea in recent months, especially the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, part of the Spratly Islands.

The Philippines has been sending supplies to troops stationed on a rusted World War Two-era transport ship used as an outpost on the shoal, prompting China's coast guard to repeatedly deploy vessels to block the resupply missions.

In the incident on Sunday morning, China's coast guard said there had been a "slight collision" between one of its ships and the Philippine boat while the coast guard was "lawfully" blocking the boat from transporting "illegal construction materials" to the warship.

Manila responded by condemning "in the strongest degree" the "dangerous blocking manoeuvres" of the Chinese vessel.

China's "dangerous, irresponsible and illegal actions" were "in violation of Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction", Manila's Task Force for the West Philippine Sea said in a statement.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including parts of the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 said China's claims had no legal basis.

Last week, the Philippine military demanded China stop its "dangerous and offensive" actions after a Chinese navy ship shadowed and attempted to cut off a Philippine navy vessel conducting a resupply mission.

China had warned the Philippines against further "provocations", saying such acts violated its territorial sovereignty.

Sunday's collision occurred during a routine resupply mission of a boat contracted by the Philippine armed forces, Manila said.

"The provocative, irresponsible, and illegal action" of the Chinese coast guard vessel "imperilled the safety of the crew" of the Philippine boat, the task force said.

China's coast guard said in a statement the Philippine vessel had ignored repeated warnings, crossed the bow of the Chinese ship and "deliberately provoked trouble", causing the collision.

"The Philippines behaviour seriously violates the international rules on avoiding collisions at sea and threatens the navigation safety of our vessels," the coast guard said.

Manila grounded the BRP Sierra Madre warship in 1999 as part of its sovereignty claim to the Second Thomas Shoal, which lies within its 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

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2023-10-22 05:23:29Z
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