Israel to pull some troops from Gaza as war enters new phase - The Straits Times

JERUSALEM - Israeli tanks pulled out of some Gaza City districts on Jan 1 while remaining in others, residents said. The move came ahead of a planned troop reduction in the war.

However, fighting raged elsewhere in the Palestinian enclave along with intense bombardment.

The Israeli move to withdraw some forces from Gaza is aimed at shifting to more targeted operations against Hamas, an Israeli official said. The country is partially returning reservists to civilian life to help the economy as the war looks set to last well into 2024, the official added.

The war will continue in the Palestinian enclave until the armed group is toppled, the official said, adding that some of the five brigades withdrawn will prepare for a possible flare-up of a second front against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Gaza offensive was launched after Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct 7. Since then, Israeli officials have said they planned to wage it in three main stages.

The first was intense shelling to clear access routes for ground forces and encourage civilians to evacuate. The second was the invasion that began on Oct 27.

With tanks and troops having now overrun much of the Gaza Strip, largely asserting control despite Palestinian gunmen continuing their ambushes from hidden tunnels and bunkers, the military is moving to the third stage of the war, said the official, who could not be identified by name given the sensitivity of the issue.

“This will take six months at least, and involve intense mopping-up missions against the terrorists. No one is talking about doves of peace being flown from Shajaia,” the official told Reuters, referring to a Gaza district ravaged by fighting.

In addition to some 1,200 people killed on Oct 7, Hamas took around 240 hostages.

The armed group is still holding 129 of them in Gaza, after releasing about 100 people in November. They were freed during a week-long truce in exchange for dozens of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Israel is determined to recover the remaining hostages. Truce efforts mediated by Qatar and Egypt have raised the prospect of some of them being freed.

The shift appeared to correspond to pressure from Israel’s top ally, the United States, to review tactics and do more to protect non-combatants.

Fighting continues

Residents of Sheikh Radwan district in Gaza City, in the northern part of the enclave that Israel’s offensive focused on first, said tanks had withdrawn after what they described as the most intense 10 days of warfare since the conflict began.

“The tanks were very near. We could see them outside the houses. We couldn’t get out to fill water,” said Mr Nasser, a father of seven living in Sheikh Radwan, who did not give his family name for fear of Israeli reprisals.

Tanks also pulled out of Gaza City’s al-Mina district and parts of Tel al-Hawa district, while retaining some positions in the suburb controlling the enclave’s main coastal road, residents said.

However, tanks remained in other parts of northern Gaza and health officials said some people trying to return to their homes in a southern district of Gaza City had been killed by Israeli fire on Dec 31.

Fighting in central parts of the enclave continued unabated on Jan 1, residents there said, with tanks pushing into al-Bureij and air strikes targeting al-Nuseirat, al-Maghazi and the southern city of Khan Younis.

Hamas showed its continued ability to target Israel after more than 12 weeks of the war, launching a barrage of rocket fire at Tel Aviv on Jan 1.

Bolstering economy

Israel initially drafted 300,000 reservists for the war – an estimated 10 per cent to 15 per cent of its workforce – for what looks set to be its longest-ever war.

Government sources have said between 200,000 and 250,000 were still serving and absent from jobs or studies.

The official said two of the brigades being withdrawn were made up of reservists, and described the move as designed to “re-energise the Israeli economy”.

Local media have reported that several military divisions were deployed throughout Gaza.

The official said some of the troops pulled out of Gaza in the south would be prepared for rotation to the northern border with Lebanon, where Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.

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2024-01-01 09:43:47Z
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Earthquake slams Japan, residents flee some coastal areas - CNA

NUCLEAR PLANTS

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said no irregularities have been confirmed at nuclear power plants along the Sea of Japan, including five active reactors at Kansai Electric Power’s Ohi and Takahama plants in Fukui Prefecture.

Hokuriku's Shika plant in Ishikawa, the closest nuclear power station to the quake’s epicentre, had already halted its two reactors before the quake for regular inspections and saw no impact from the quake, the agency said.

The 2011 earthquake and tsunami killed nearly 20,000 people and devastated towns and nuclear meltdowns in Fukushima.

Another quake, known as the Great Hanshin Earthquake, hit western Japan in 1995, killing more than 6,000 people, mainly in the city of Kobe.

Monday's quake struck during the Jan 1 public holiday when millions of Japanese traditionally visit temples to mark the new year.

In Kanazawa, a popular tourist destination in Ishikawa, images showed the remnants of a collapsed torii gate strewn at the entrance of a shrine as anxious worshippers looked on.

Kanazawa resident Ayako Daikai said she had evacuated to a nearby elementary school with her husband and two children soon after the earthquake hit. Classrooms, stairwells, hallways and the gymnasium were all packed with evacuees, she said.

"I also experienced the Great Hanshin Earthquake, so I thought it would be safest to evacuate," she told Reuters when contacted by telephone.

"We haven't decided when to return home yet."

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2024-01-01 07:41:00Z
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Revellers in Taiwan hurt after alleged knife sighting sparks panic during New Year's Eve party - The Straits Times

Several people were injured at a New Year’s Eve countdown party in a southern Taiwan city after a brief hysteria sparked by an alleged sighting of a man holding a knife during the event.

According to United Daily News (UDN), the gathering was located outside Kaohsiung’s Dream Mall on Dec 31, where partygoers were waiting to ring in the New Year together.

The organiser estimated that more than 340,000 attended the countdown.

The scene turned chaotic at 9pm as rumours about a man in his 20s pulling out a fruit knife after an argument with another man spread among the audience during the performance of local rock band Elephant Gym.

The lead singer, KT Chang, was addressing the audience when she suddenly uttered “someone has a knife” before hurrying off the stage with her band members, leaving their instruments behind.

In a video posted by China Times, many can be seen running in all directions while one of the hosts, Hao Zi, tries to control the crowd by asking them to not panic or push others.

“We have a lot of people at the scene right now. Everyone, please be careful,” he added.

Describing the panic, one partygoer said that everyone started pushing and screaming, and that many people fell down, UDN reported.

“There were at least dozens of people in front of me. Everyone fell into a pile,” said the partygoer.

Kaohsiung city government Information Bureau director-general Hsiang Pin-ho said a small group of people who were stepped on during the incident and some others who felt anxiety about the situation were taken to a nearby medical station. 

Many people had their arms and legs bruised, while a young girl was so frightened that she began crying out loud, UDN reported.

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2024-01-01 06:33:00Z
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Taiwan president says ties with China must be decided by will of the people - CNA

China has cast the election as a choice between war and peace and has refused multiple offers of talks by Tsai, believing she is a separatist.

Tsai has made bolstering and modernising Taiwan's defences a priority, including pushing an indigenous submarine programme.

"Everyone's home has locks on them, which is not to provoke the neighbours next door but to make yourself safer. This is the same for the doors to the country. Taiwan's people want peace, but we want peace with dignity," she said.

Taiwan's government has repeatedly warned China is trying to interfere in the election, whether by using fake news or military or trade pressure, and Tsai said she hoped people could be on alert for this.

After China accused Taiwan of erecting trade barriers and ended some tariff cuts for the island, China last week threatened further economic measures.

Tsai said Taiwan's companies must look globally and diversify.

"This is the correct path, rather than going back to the path of relying on China, especially as in China's unstable market there is unpredictable risk," she said.

"We have always welcomed healthy, orderly interactions across the strait, but trade and economic exchanges cannot become a political tool."

China has taken particular exception to current Vice President Lai Ching-te, the presidential candidate for Taiwan's ruling Democratic Party (DPP) and who is leading in opinion polls by varying margins, saying he is also a dangerous separatist.

Both the DPP and Taiwan's largest opposition party the Kuomintang say only the island's people can decide their future.

Tsai cannot stand again after two terms in office. She will step down in May when the next president is sworn in. 

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2024-01-01 03:03:34Z
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Kim Jong Un tells army to 'annihilate' South Korea, US if they initiate conflict - CNA

During the meetings to set the policy agenda for 2024, the North Korean leader accused the United States of posing "various forms of military threat".

He also called on armed forces to "suppress the whole territory of South Korea mobilising all physical means ... including nuclear forces" in case of a "great event", referring to an armed conflict.

Kim told the meeting he would no longer seek reconciliation and reunification with South Korea, noting the "uncontrollable crisis" that he said was triggered by Seoul and Washington.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Monday to keep Pyongyang's military provocations at bay with a joint extended deterrence system with Washington, scheduled for the first half of 2024.

The deterrence system will "fundamentally deter any North Korean nuclear and missile threat", Yoon said in his New Year's Day address.

In 2023, Pyongyang successfully launched a reconnaissance satellite, enshrined its status as a nuclear power in its constitution and test-fired the most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile in its arsenal.

Pyongyang declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear power in 2022 and has repeatedly said it will never give up its nuclear weapons programme, which the regime views as essential for its survival.

The United Nations Security Council has adopted many resolutions calling on North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes since Pyongyang first conducted a nuclear test in 2006.

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2024-01-01 02:57:00Z
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Israelis and Palestinians end dark year, with no end in sight to war - CNA

The world has for months watched on in horror as the long-running Israel-Palestinian conflict exploded into the bloodiest Gaza war after Hamas launched its unprecedented attack on Oct 7.

The Palestinian gunmen overwhelmed Gaza's high-tech border fence and burst into southern Israel in an attack that left about 1,140 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The surprise attack - in which Hamas militants committed atrocities and dragged off some 250 hostages - blindsided and infuriated Israel and sparked a devastating military response.

Heavy bombardment and a ground invasion launched three weeks into the war, have reduced vast areas of Gaza to a ruined wasteland and killed at least 21,822 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.

More than 55,000 people have been injured, it said, at a time when most Gaza hospitals are either out of service or damaged and overwhelmed.

The Israeli army says 172 of its soldiers have been killed inside Gaza, and Netanyahu said Israeli forces had killed about 8,000 "terrorists" so far.

Days ago, Israel said soldiers had destroyed the Gaza City hideout, connected to a vast tunnel system, of Hamas's Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, whom they have labelled a "dead man walking".

"EPIC HUMAN SUFFERING"

As the war has raged, UN chief Antonio Guterres has condemned the "epic human suffering" and "collective punishment" of Palestinian civilians.

He and other world leaders have repeatedly called for a ceasefire while Israel has vowed to push on until Hamas is defeated, a position backed by its powerful ally the United States.

Netanyahu stressed again that "the war will continue for many months until Hamas is eliminated and the hostages are returned".

"We will guarantee that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel," he told a news conference on Saturday.

On Sunday, he vowed: "We will continue our defensive war, the justice and morality of which is without peer".

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2023-12-31 12:04:28Z
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Maersk pauses Red Sea sailings after Houthi attack on Singapore-flagged container ship - CNA

DUBAI: Iranian-backed Houthi militants attacked a Maersk container vessel with missiles and small boats, prompting the company to pause all sailing through the Red Sea for 48 hours, Maersk said on Sunday (Dec 31).

The crew of the Maersk Hangzhou crew was safe and there was no indication of fire onboard the vessel, which was fully manoeuvrable and continued its journey north to Port Suez, Maersk said.

The attack was the latest by Houthi militants in Yemen, who have been targeting vessels in The Red Sea to show their support for Palestinian group Hamas fighting Israel in Gaza.

The attacks have disrupted world trade, with major shipping companies taking the longer and costlier route around the Africa's Cape of Good Hope rather than through the Suez Canal.

The Red Sea is the entry point for ships using the Suez Canal, which handles about 12 per cent of global trade and vital for the movement of goods between Asia and Europe.

The United States launched Operation Prosperity Guardian on Dec 19, saying more than 20 countries had agreed to participate in the efforts to safeguard ships in Red Sea waters near Yemen.

In response, Maersk said on Dec 24 it would resume sailings through the Red Sea. However, attacks have continued and US allies have proven reluctant to commit to the coalition, with nearly half not declaring their presence publicly.

Maersk, one of the world's major cargo shippers, said on Sunday it would delay all transits through the area for 48 hours, after the Maersk Hangzhou was struck by a missile at around 1730 GMT on Saturday 55 nautical miles southwest of Al Hodeidah, Yemen.

A US warship shot down another two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, according to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

Later at around 0330 GMT on Sunday, the same ship was attacked by Houthi militants in four small boats. An attempt by the attackers to board the vessel was averted after its security team and helicopters from the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely, responding to distress calls, returned fire, according to statements by Maersk and CENTCOM.

The helicopters sank three of the militant boats, with no survivors, while the fourth boat fled the area, CENTCOM said in the statement.

The Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou with capacity to carry 14,000 containers was en route from Singapore.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Sunday that he had told Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in a call that Iran should help stop the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

"I made clear that Iran shares responsibility for preventing these attacks, given their long-standing support to the Houthis," Cameron said in a post on social media site X, adding that the attacks "threaten innocent lives and the global economy".

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2023-12-31 11:20:00Z
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