China Sends ‘Night Tigers’ to Syria

Syrian residents are seen reacting after shelling in Douma, in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta, Syria November 17, 2017. (Reuters)
Syrian residents are seen reacting after shelling in Douma, in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta, Syria November 17, 2017. (Reuters)
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China Sends ‘Night Tigers’ to Syria

Syrian residents are seen reacting after shelling in Douma, in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta, Syria November 17, 2017. (Reuters)
Syrian residents are seen reacting after shelling in Douma, in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta, Syria November 17, 2017. (Reuters)

Chinese Special Forces will soon head to Syria to participate in countering terrorism of the Islamic East Turkestan Movement in the Damascus countryside, said the Hmeimim Russian Military Base, west Syria.

The base posted on its Facebook page that the Chinese Ministry of Defense intends to send two units, known as the “Tigers of Siberia” and the “Night Tigers” from the Special Operations Forces, to aid Syrian regime troops against the Islamic East Turkestan Movement that was sighted aiding terrorist groups in Syria.

There are an estimated 2,500 Islamic East Turkestan Movement militants operating in Syria.

Meanwhile, shelling and bombardment became less frequent on Eastern Ghouta near Damascus on Tuesday afternoon. This allowed humanitarian aid to enter besieged cities and towns as the United Nations announced the Syrian regime had accepted a ceasefire in the area.

UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura said the regime had agreed to a Russian proposal for a ceasefire in Eastern Ghouta.

He told reporters that the regime had accepted a truce proposal put forward by Moscow ahead of the latest round of peace talks in Geneva, which began on Tuesday. He stated however that the deal was not yet implemented, adding: “We have to see if it happens."

"Now we need to see whether this takes place but it's not coincidental that this has actually been proposed and agreed upon just at the beginning of this session," he remarked.

Earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that relief teams with food and health supplies had entered Eastern Ghouta through al-Wafideen crossing.

The humanitarian aid comes after shelling on Hamuriyyah on Tuesday that killed 18 people and injured at least one.

The Observatory reported that several explosions were heard in Eastern Ghouta resulting from six airstrikes that targeted Hamurriyah that is held by the al-Rahman Corps.

The observatory documented that three citizens died, including two children, and at least 15 were injured, some of whom are still in serious conditions.

In light of recent events, Doctors without Borders (MSF) called on Tuesday for urgent medical supplies and respect for International Humanitarian Law on protecting medical facilities.

"Hundreds of people have been wounded in intense bombing and shelling in the besieged East Ghouta enclave near Damascus, Syria, in the last two weeks, creating a disaster for patients in need of medical treatment," stated the organization in its report.

The report added that from November 14 to 26, five MSF-supported field hospitals in East Ghouta treated 576 wounded patients and recorded 69 deaths.

MSF warned that 25 percent of the wounded and the dead are women or children under 15 years old.



Israeli Troops, Palestinian Fighters Clash in West Bank after Incidents Near Settlements

Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
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Israeli Troops, Palestinian Fighters Clash in West Bank after Incidents Near Settlements

Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli troops move inside the Jenin refugee camp on the fourth day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 31 August 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

Clashes broke out between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank on Saturday as Israel pushed ahead with a military operation in the flashpoint city of Jenin.
Israeli troops searched areas around Jewish settlements after two separate security incidents on Friday evening. In Jenin itself, drones and helicopters circled overhead while the sound of sporadic firing could be heard in the city, said Reuters.
Hundreds of Israeli troops have been carrying out raids since Wednesday in one of their largest actions in the West Bank in months.
The operation, which Israel says was mounted to block Iranian-backed militant groups from attacking its citizens, has drawn international calls for a halt.
At least 19 Palestinians, including armed fighters and civilians, have now been killed since it began. The Israeli military said on Saturday a soldier had been killed during the fighting in the West Bank.
The Israeli forces were battling Palestinian fighters from armed factions that have long had a strong presence in Jenin and the adjoining refugee camp, a densely populated township housing families driven from their homes in the 1948 Middle East war around the creation of Israel.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Saturday a child had been taken to hospital in Jenin with a bullet wound to the head.
The escalation in hostilities in the West Bank takes place as fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas group still rages in the coastal Gaza Strip nearly 11 months since it began, and hostilities with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in the Israel-Lebanon border area have intensified.
Late on Friday, Israeli forces said two men were killed in separate incidents near Gush Etzion, a large West Bank settlement cluster located south of Jerusalem, that the military assessed were both attempted attacks on Israelis.
In the first, a car exploded at a petrol station in what the army said was an attempted car bombing attack. The military said a man was shot dead after he got out of the car and tried to attack soldiers.
In the second incident, a man was killed after the military said a car attempted to ram a security guard and infiltrate the Karmei Tzur settlement. The car was chased by security forces and crashed and an explosive device in it was detonated, the military said in a statement.
The two deaths were confirmed by Palestinian health authorities but they gave no details on how they died.
Troops combed the area following the two incidents. Security forces also carried out raids in the city of Hebron, where the two men came from.
Hamas praised what it called a "double heroic operation" in the West Bank. It said in a statement it was "a clear message that resistance will remain striking, prolonged and sustained as long as the brutal occupation's aggression and targeting of our people and land continue".
The group, however, did not claim direct responsibility for the attacks.
Israeli army chief General Herzi Halevi said on Saturday Israel would step up defensive measures as well as offensive actions like the Jenin operation.
Amid the gunfire, armored bulldozers searching for roadside bombs have ploughed up large stretches of paved roads and water pipes have been damaged, leading to flooding in some areas.
Since the Hamas attack on Israel last October that triggered the Gaza war, at least 660 Palestinian combatants and civilians have been killed in the West Bank, according to Palestinian tallies, some by Israeli troops and some by Jewish settlers who have carried out frequent attacks on Palestinian communities.
Israel says Iran provides weapons and support to militant factions in the West Bank - under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Middle East war - and the military has as a result cranked up its operations there.