IDF Strikes Two Hamas Facilities, China Adds Military Asset In S China Sea, New Military Base In Africa Concerns U.S.

IDF strikes two Hamas facilities after rocket fired from Gaza at Netivot

Israeli Air Force jets struck two Hamas installations in the north of the Gaza Strip early Thursday in response to the latest rocket fire from the territory at Israeli communities nearby, the army said.

There were no immediate reports about damage or casualties from the Israeli strike.

Less than two hours before the strike, a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in an empty field in the Sdot Negev Regional Council near Netivot.

The rocket exploded on impact. No one was hurt and no damage was reported from the explosion.

The “code red” siren did not trigger, as the army’s sensors determined the rocket would not land near a populated area.

Security forces combed the area.

Initial assessments suggested that the rocket was not fired by Hamas, which rules Gaza, but by radical Salafist groups in the strip, according to Hebrew media reports citing military sources.

A rocket was last fired at Israel from Gaza in late February, leading the IDF to launch air strikes against five Hamas installations in the territory.

Israel holds Hamas responsible for all rocket fire and other attacks emanating from the territory.

China Building Potential Military Asset on Paracel Islands in South China Sea

Satellite footage taken on March 6 reveals the construction of a port that analysts believe could turn out to be a military installation on the North Island of the Paracels Island group.

Focus, a Taiwanese news agency, reported that leaders in Taipei are "keeping close tabs" on the construction work, which has so far included land-clearing and "preparation for a harbor."

China had started work on the port last year but had to restart the project after a typhoon wiped out most of the new structures, Focus noted. 

The Paracels are simultaneously claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Beijing had previously vowed to cease land reclamation, UPI reported. Nevertheless, airstrips have been built on other islets such as Woody Island.  

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is slated to visit China on March 18 as part of an Asian tour, and the South China Sea is sure to be a hot topic during the discussions. In a Senate hearing, Tillerson said "we’re going have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops, and second, your access to those islands is not going to be allowed." 

China has already built up the nearby Spratly Islands with structures featuring retractable roofs, which analysts warn could house surface-to-air missiles (SAM). As one US intelligence official said, "it is not like the Chinese to build anything in the South China Sea just to build it,” adding, "these structures resemble others that house SAM batteries." Beijing officials have denied allegations of militarization. "China carrying out normal construction activities,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, "is a normal right under international law for sovereign nations." 

New Chinese Military Base in Africa Presents Security Concerns for US

China’s first non-domestic military outpost is slated to be finished by the end of the summer, according to Marine General Thomas Waldhauser, who said the base presents security concerns to the US.

The 90-acre naval base is located a mere four miles from the headquarters of US African Command, Camp Lemonnier, in Djibouti, where some 3,000 to 4,000 US personnel are stationed at any given time.

Under Waldhauser’s watch, the US hopes to keep tabs on what China does and does not do at the new base. Waldhauser recently requested an audience with Djibouti President Ismail Omar, to whom he "expressed [US] concerns about some of the things that are important to us about what the Chinese should not do at that location."

The US uses Camp Lemonnier base as a hub for highly secretive operations, Defense Tech reported. For instance, the camp was involved in the January 29 raid in Yemen that killed Navy Seal Team 6 member William “Ryan” Owens, as well as 14 Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militants and at least 25 civilians.

Chinese investors have poured $400 million into Djibouti to build a trading port and to develop a free trade zone in the region. In addition to bolstering China’s naval presence in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, the base will likely serve as headquarters for roughly 2,200 Chinese soldiers stationed in Africa as part of peacekeeping operations, Waldhauser noted.

Warning: Uniting Europe Means Conquering and Plundering the Weak

European leaders are now calling for a federal union to salvage the EU. At least four European leaders have asked for a European “Federal Union” to build up the relationship between European nation-states.

A number of countries have threatened to leave the Eurozone including at one time or another Greece, Italy, France, Portugal, the Netherlands and Spain.

All of these countries are struggling with enormously high debt.

Reps from lower parliament chamber in France, Italy, Germany and Luxembourg wrote a letter in La Stampa, an Italian newspaper, explaining that member member states ought not to be fearful about Brexit or other concerns.

The letter was published in advance of the mid-March meeting marking the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. This was what began the European Economic Community, before the Union.

All of these countries are struggling with enormously high debt.

Reps from lower parliament chamber in France, Italy, Germany and Luxembourg wrote a letter in La Stampa, an Italian newspaper, explaining that member member states ought not to be fearful about Brexit or other concerns.

The letter was published in advance of the mid-March meeting marking the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. This was what began the European Economic Community, before the Union.

Their joint letter reads:

Now is the moment to move towards closer political integration – the Federal Union of States with broad powers.

We know that the prospect stirs up strong resistance, but the inaction of some cannot be the analysis of all. Those who believe in European ideals, should be able to give them a new life instead of helplessly observing its slow sunset.

The integration of Europe is less certain than ever because of “populist, nationalist and even xenophobic movements”.

But why is the integration of Europe, or unity among sovereign nations automatically a good thing? Disunity is exactly what made Europe a bastion of relative freedom and technological progress compared to the rest of the world.

Uniting Europe under Napoleon or Hitler didn’t seem to garner much support from across the continent. And the only reason modern “peaceful” unity of Europe gains traction is because the domination, looting, and subjugation of some European states at the hands of others takes on a more subtle form.

In reality, unification of Europe would give a despot, or a small group of despots, the ability to make decisions that effect all of Europe, for better or for worse.

Last month, Conservative MEP Ashley Fox commented on a message from the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt, who presented a plan for a European Commission that would be a  “genuine government”.

In a comment, Mr Fox responded: “People are questioning what the EU does and whether it should be doing it at all. Mr Verhofstadt’s vision for the future of the EU is flawed and not representative of the citizens of Europe.”

Many individuals see the attempts of the EU to take over Europe as the same as any foreign invader. After all, they have examples like Greece to look at. The title of one Russian-Insider article puts it succinctly: Greece to Surrender Gold, Utilities and Real Estate in Exchange For Pieces of Paper Printed in Brussels.

Germany announces the final pillage of Greece… It’s official: The Germans will not allow debt relief for Greece. Instead, Berlin wants to send in the repo man.

The untold story of the Greek “bailouts” is that it wasn’t a “bailout” — it was an auction of Greek assets. Real, tangible things with real, tangible value were seized in exchange for pieces of paper that guarantee Athens will be chained to Berlin and Brussels for the foreseeable future.

Any struggling states should think twice before allowing the EU to bail them out. And a real Europe-wide government would not be much better for the “little guys” or the countries struggling with debt. It would mean the central state gets to decide how their finances will be handled. Ask Greece how that will work out.

This really is a golden age for international criminal cabals. Al Capone was a chump.

US Envoy Nikki Haley Outraged by UN Report Maligning Israel as Apartheid State

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has expressed outrage at a UN report that maligns Israel as an apartheid state.

The report by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) accused Israel of imposing apartheid on Arabs in Judea and Samaria, a completely bogus claim. It concluded that “available evidence established beyond a reasonable doubt that Israel is guilty of policies and practices that constitute the crime of apartheid."

The ESCWA is based in Beirut and is comprised of 18 Arab nations. It also lists the so-called “State of Palestine” as a full member.

On behalf of the United States, Haley demanded that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres withdraw the report.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon also condemned the report, saying in a statement: “The attempt to smear and falsely label the only true democracy in the Middle East by creating a false analogy is despicable and constitutes a blatant lie.”

On behalf of Guterres, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, “The report as it stands does not reflect the views of the secretary-general,” and added that it was written without consulting the UN leader.

“The United States is outraged by the report,” Haley said in a statement. “The United Nations secretariat was right to distance itself from this report, but it must go further and withdraw the report altogether… That anti-Israel propaganda would come from a body whose membership nearly universally does not recognize Israel is unsurprising.”