Scores of Palestinians were throwing stones and hurling burning tires at an IDF outpost at the Cave of Patriarchs in Hebron. Security forces are responding with riot control methods. There were conflicting reports regarding the number of protestors, with some estimates as high as 150.
Meanwhile, over 50 Palestinians rioted in Turmus Iya in the West Bank, where Palestinian minister Ziad Abu Ein died of heart failure Wednesday after an altercation with IDF and police forces.
Meanwhile, hundreds attended Abu Ein's funeral in Ramallah. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas laid a reef on his coffin.
Thursday's clashes come a day after Palestinian Cabinet member Ziad Abu Ein died following a scuffle with Israeli troops during a protest elsewhere in the West Bank.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or arrests in the Hebron clashes.
Abu Ein's death has stirred Palestinian anger at a time of badly strained relations with Israel.
Last week a masked Palestinian carrying a knife was neutralized after approaching Border Guard forces at the Qalandiya Checkpoint north of Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Authority on Thursday accused Israel of killing a senior official who died a day earlier in a confrontation with troops during a protest march in the West Bank.
“After hearing the results of the autopsy, the Palestinian government holds Israel fully responsible for the killing of Ziad Abu Ein,” government spokesman Ihab Bseiso told reporters.
Abu Ein, 55, died on Wednesday following a violent confrontation with Israeli soldiers near the city of Ramallah, in an incident that prompted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to threaten unspecified measures in response.
The IDF deployed reinforcements to the West Bank Thursday, anticipating clashes with Palestinians after Abu Ein’s funeral. The funeral proceeding began Thursday morning in Ramallah.
About 50 Palestinian demonstrators on Thursday hurled stones at security forces near the site where Abu Ein died on Wednesday, Ynet reported.
Earlier, hundreds of Palestinian protesters hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at IDF soldiers during two different demonstrations in and near the West Bank city of Hebron.
A Palestinian minister earlier said the autopsy, which was carried out by Palestinian, Israeli and Jordanian doctors, had shown that Abu Ein was killed by the actions of Israeli troops.
“The reason for the death of Abu Ein was his being hit by occupation troops and because of the heavy use of tear gas,” Palestinian civil affairs minister Hussein al-Sheikh told AFP.
Sheikh claimed Israeli forces had prevented Abu Ein from getting to hospital quickly enough to save his life.
An official Israeli Health Ministry statement disputed the claim, however, saying the autopsy showed Abu Ein had a pre-existing heart condition and may have died after suffering pressure to his neck during the scuffle with the soldiers
“[Abu Ein’s] death was caused by blockage of a coronary artery due to hemorrhaging beneath an arteriosclerotic plaque,” a health ministry statement read, further explaining that “the bleeding could have been induced by stress.”
The statement went on to explain that Abu Ein “suffered from an ischemic heart disease,” and that “blood vessels in his heart were found to be over 80% blocked by plaque.”
Earlier Wednesday, Abbas vowed to respond to what he called the “brutal assault” on Abu Ein and summoned an emergency session of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah, amid speculation he could suspend longstanding security cooperation between the PA and Israel.
“All options are open for discussion and implementation,” he said.
Palestinian official Wasel Abu Yussef said the issue of cooperation was discussed at the session, but a decision on the matter was deferred until Friday.
“We discussed the immediate halt of security cooperation and a review of agreements made with the Israelis, particularly the accords on security,” he said.
China on Wednesday confirmed that it carried out a third flight test of a new hypersonic strike vehicle that U.S. officials say is part of efforts by Chinese nuclear forces to penetrate U.S. strategic missile defenses.
A Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman told state-run news media the Dec. 2 test was routine.
“Scientific experiments carried out by China within its borders are normal ones conducted according to its schedule, and they are not directed against any specific country or target,” the Defense Ministry stated through a spokesman. The comments were reported in the official China Daily newspaper.
The official confirmation is unusual because China’s military development programs, and specifically its nuclear arms, are shrouded in secrecy.
Defense officials said the test was the third by China of the new ultra-high speed vehicle. Two earlier tests were monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies on Jan. 9 and Aug. 7.
The third test of the advanced weapon in a single year is an indication of the high priority China has placed on building the weapon, military analysts said.
John Tkacik, a former State Department China affairs specialist, said the Wu-14 development is one reason the Pentagon increasingly has expressed anxieties over Chinese weapons development in public.
“Clearly, hypersonic reentry vehicles are intended eventually to deliver nuclear weapons to a target,” Tkacik said. “And clearly, China is modernizing its nuclear weapon systems far more extensively than Washington policymakers have been willing to believe.”
Tkacik said hypersonic strike vehicles are designed to reduce warning time of an attack to zero so that “the target never knows what hit it, nor does an anti-ballistic missile system have the time to plot a track before it’s hit.”
“Unlike the U.S. which can’t build a nuclear warhead any more, China’s drive for a hypersonic capacity centers on nuclear weapons delivery,” Tkacik said. “But this is a reality that no one in Washington can quite allow himself to believe.”
In his recent article written for the Defense News, Wendell Minnick, an American military analyst, said on Dec. 6 that the People's Liberation Army's new S-400 purchased from Russia has the ability to completely wipe out Taiwan's air defense.
Reports from Russia indicated that China signed a US$3 billion contract to purchase enough S-400 surface-to-air missiles to equip its six air defense battalions based near its major eastern cities. Those missiles will be scattered along the coast facing Taiwan and Japan. With a range of 400 km, the missile can cover the entire air space of Taiwan, according to Vasiliy Kashin from the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies based in Moscow.
Once the S-400 is deployed, the Republic of China Air Force will be completely useless to stop China's anti-access and aera denial strategies even if it purchases F-16C/D fighters from the United States. "Given its extremely long range and effective electronic warfare capabilities, the S-400 is a game-changing system that challenges current military capabilities at the operational level of war," said Paul Giarra, the president of Global Strategies and Transformation.
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2 comments:
Scott... there are some days that I just can't read the news stories... the real stories. It gets so overwhelming. But I am glad that you continue to dig and post. The Lord's blessings to you, brother. And maranatha!
Dave. Thanks and i agree. Its overwhelming. So many things converging. The Russian provocation by the US/ EU has me the most concerned now
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