Taiwan is closely watching the Hamas-Israel war for lessons

Taiwan is closely watching the war in the Middle East sparked by the unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza for lessons amid what the self-governing island says is a campaign of intimidation and threats by China, reports Associated Press (AP).

Taiwanese Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Thursday that the Hamas-Israel war "blew up so suddenly”, prompting Taiwan to up its ability to forecast possible threats.

“We've established a working group to study and ... reinforce the importance of collecting intelligence,” he said ahead of a meeting of the legislature.

China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, has conducted increasingly large military drills in the air and waters around Taiwan as tensions have grown between the two and with the United States.