Terrorist Opens Fire At Beersheba Bus Station, Firebombs At Soldiers In Hebron, S China Sea Tensions

Terrorist opens fire at Beersheba bus station, kills one, wounds 11

An IDF soldier was killed and 11 more people were injured in a terror attack at the Central Bus Station in the southern city of Beersheba Sunday night.

Among the injured was an Eritrean man shot and seriously wounded by responding security forces, who initially mistook him for a terrorist.

According to the police, following an initial investigation, the attacker stabbed a soldier and stole his weapon, opening fire on the crowded bus terminal.

The soldier later died of his wounds after being rushed to a hospital in the area.

Rescue officials said 11 people were injured in the attack, which occurred at about 7:30 p.m.

Two of the victims were reported to be seriously wounded. At least four of those hurt in the attack were cops, police said.

The terrorist, who was not initially identified, was shot and killed by responding forces after holing up in a bathroom.

Gadi Abuchatzeira, deputy head of the Magen David Adom Negev Region, said rescuers found a number of injured, all of them in their 20s, in the station.

“We arrived at the scene en masse and spread throughout the station to look for other victims. We did a triage and began giving lifesaving treatment. Two of them had wounds to their upper bodies, they were unconscious,” Abuchatzeira said.

“Four of the injured were fully conscious in moderate condition and suffering from gunshot wounds to the torso and legs. A woman was also injured with a gunshot wound to the limbs,” he continued.

Palestinians hurl stones, firebombs at soldiers in Hebron

Hundreds of Palestinian protesters in two locations of the West Bank city of Hebron hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli security forces Sunday, following several stabbing attacks that were carried out by Palestinians in the area over the weekend.

The IDF was unable to disperse the riots with nonlethal means, and later fired 0.22 inch Ruger rifle bullets at the “main instigators” of the violent protest, an army spokesperson told The Times of Israel. No injuries were reported at the protest, but the IDF confirmed some demonstrators had been hit by Ruger rifle fire.

In the West Bank city of Tulkarem, about 100 rioters hurled rocks, burning tires and Molotov cocktails at IDF soldiers, who responded with nonlethal dispersal means. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Dozens of Palestinians also burnt tires along the southern part of the Gaza Strip border fence, the Ynet news site reported.

On Saturday night, several Molotov cocktails were thrown near Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs, and an explosive device was hurled at an IDF patrol nearby, as violence continued to rock the flashpoint city. No injuries were reported after at least five firebombs were thrown at a military checkpoint next to the pilgrimage site, according to media reports.

The attack came days after Palestinian rioters set fire to Joseph’s Tomb in the Palestinian city of Nablus, seriously damaging the biblical pilgrimage site revered by Jews and Muslims and drawing wide condemnation.

An IDF patrol in the Hebron Hills outside the city also came under fire Saturday night from an improvised explosive device. There were no injuries reported in that attack.

Russia's Syrian Operation to Smash Terrorists, End Tyranny of Banking Elite

The Kremlin's decision to provide the Syrian legitimate government of Bashar al-Assad with military support has shifted the global geopolitical map significantly, American-German historian and strategic risk consultant F. William Engdahl underscores.

"The Russian intervention has exposed the fraud of the US' position in the Middle East and shown the world that Washington lies, that she supports the very terrorists who allegedly were behind the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and at the Pentagon," Engdahl pointed out in his article for New Eastern Outlook.

According to the historian Russia is about to put an end to the US-led "new world order" proclaimed by triumphalist President George H.W. Bush on September 11, 1990.

"That new order, as is clear today, is one of war, killing, chaos, hate and vengeance, negativity everywhere in the world where there is positivity. It's very much the history of the forty so years since Bush was Director of the CIA, and put much of those developments into motion starting with the 1991 US invasion of Iraq [Operation Desert Storm]," Engdahl stressed.

The historian narrated that after the collapse of the Soviet Union the United States quickly adopted the winner-takes-all-approach in its foreign policy. It was clearly demonstrated by the so-called 'Wolfowitz Doctrine' — a new strategic post-Cold War policy of Washington.

"America's political and military mission in the post-Cold War era will be to insure that no rival superpower is allowed to emerge in Western Europe, Asia or the territory of the former Soviet Union," the doctrine stated.

"We will retain the preeminent responsibility for addressing selectively those wrongs which threaten not only our interests, but those of our allies," it read.

The Doctrine became an official policy under US president George W. Bush after September 11, 2001 tragedy.

Engdahl underscored that the policy justified "pre-emptive" US military strikes as well as US promotion of regime change in nations around the world unwilling to bow before Washington.

In light of this, Russia's decision to step in in Syria has dealt a severe blow to the famous 'Wolfowitz Doctrine' and shifted the global balance of power.

"The Russian military intervention into Syria, which began at the end of September, appears likely able to deal a devastating blow or defeat to the armies of ISIS [ISIL], al-Nusra/al-Qaeda in Iraq and Syria and other Islamic terror groups that have been euphemistically defined by Washington as 'moderate opposition' to Bashar al Assad. De Facto this intervention spells the end of the Wolfowitz Doctrine. Russia has called Washington's bluff in Syria with its military actions," the historian emphasized.

"Russia has accepted what I consider an awesome responsibility," Engdahl noted, asking: What will be Russia's next move?

After exposing Washington's dirty double game in the Middle East and smashing terrorists in Syria, Russia should go further, promoting independence from the Bretton-Woods' "dollar" order.

In order to accomplish such a task, Moscow should push ahead "the re-sovereignization of the Russian Central Bank as a state institution, so that the Russian State is able to issue sovereign money, without looking over its shoulder to what Wall Street and US hedge funds and their corrupt rating agencies think," the risk strategic consultant underscored.

Together with the Eurasian Economic Union partner countries, with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization partner countries, with the BRICS partners and the emerging group of nations in the Middle East, Russia is likely to not only deal a blow to US-bred terrorists in Syria, but also "to transform the foundations of world economic stability by understanding the true possibilities she has to end the tyranny of debt slavery by private Western banks and their central banks of the dollar system."

Clash of Goliaths: China Tries to Calm S China Sea Tension

China is making efforts to soothe tensions over the South China Sea, saying it will avoid the use of force in the region as the US contemplates sending warships near the disputed territory.

Speaking at the Xiangshan regional defense forum in Beijing, Fan Changlong, vice-chairman of China's Central Military Commission, vowed that the country would “never recklessly resort to the use of force, even on issues bearing on sovereignty”.

But the United States' provocative attempts to trespass on China's South China Sea sovereignty are disrupting regional peace and stability and militarizing the waters, Xinhua reported.

The US Navy is allegedly preparing to conduct ‘freedom of navigation’ operations, sending warships within 12 nautical miles of Chinese islands in the South China Sea. The US operations may take place within days, according to reports.

Last month US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said the United States “will fly, sail and operate wherever the international law allows, as we do around the world.”

“What on earth makes the United States think China should and will tolerate it when US surface ships trespass on Chinese territory in the South China Sea?”  Xinhua news stressed.

China will never endure any military provocation or infringement on sovereignty from the United States or any other country, just as the United States refused 53 years ago.

Over the past several years, the United States has held frequent large-scale drills with its allies in the South China Sea, showing off their military muscle, the news website noted.

Twelve air forces crowd Syrian skies. Israel-Russian hot line may channel coordination

On Sunday, Oct. 18, Russian and Israeli air force headquarters near Latakia in Syria and Tel Aviv began practicing procedures for using the hot line they established last week to coordinate their operations in Syrian skies. They were putting into effect the agreement reached between Vladimir Putin and Binyamin Netanyahu in Moscow on Sept. 22, which was worked out in detail on Oct. 6 by Russian Dept. Chief of Staff Gen. Nikolay Bogdanovsky and his Israeli counterpart Gen. Yair Golan..

On Oct 15, the defense ministry in Moscow confirmed that “mutual information-sharing on the actions of aircraft has been established”  to avoid clashes in the skies of Syria “between the Russian aviation command center at the Hmeimim air base and a command post of the Israeli air force.” He added that the two sides were holding practice sessions on the new line.

It just so happens that, this Sunday, the US and Israel launched their bi-annual Blue Flag air exercise from Israel’s southern air base at Ovda, their combat squadrons joined by Greek and Italian air units. They will spend two weeks “simulating a high-intensity confrontation against a political entity with a strong army,” according to the official statement.

The question hanging over this exercise is this: How will this drill pan out in the absence of US-Russian coordination on their air movements over the Middle East and Syria?

Unlike the airspace of the world’s countries, Syria’s skies are in fact ungoverned by any fully-functioning sovereign government, and so the normal rules of air conduct and international safety procedures have gone by the board. 

Syrian air space is frequented by the fighters, heavy bombers, transports and UAVs of a dozen air forces: Syria, Russia the US, Israel, Turkey and Iran as well as the US-led coalition planes of Canada, France, Australia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The miracle is that no major air disasters have so far occurred in skies crowded by this swarm of uncontrolled, unmonitored air traffic – all bent on their separate missions.

Russian end of the hot line with Israel at the Al-Hmeineem air base near Latakia, will be manned by Arab-speaking flight controllers.

And at the Tel Aviv end, along with Israeli officers, there will also be a presence of air controllers from western allies, including the US Air Force, who will use the facility to coordinate their flights with the Russian command.
The US-Israeli Blue Flag exercise provides an excellent opportunity for testing the Israeli-Russian hot line in combat conditions. Far from being a fantastic scenario, it offers a dose of reality on the current military conditions prevailing in the region.