Israeli soldiers killed two young Palestinian demonstrators, transfer of West Bank towns to local control was halted and a Palestinian security chief said militants will not be disarmed -- signs that a three-month truce might be coming unraveled.
Palestinian security officials said youths were throwing rocks after nightfall Wednesday at troops guarding the separation barrier Israel is building near the village of Beit Lakia, and the soldiers opened fire, killing two 17-year-old cousins.
Israeli military officials said about 300 Palestinians threw rocks and iron bars at soldiers, who fired warning shots in the air before shooting at the Palestinians. Demonstrations by Palestinians and Israeli sympathizers at barrier construction sites are a daily occurrence. Palestinians call the barrier an "apartheid wall" and complain that it cuts into the West Bank. Israel says it's needed to stop suicide bombers and other infiltrators.
The Palestinian Authority issued a statement calling the killing a violation of the ceasefire. The truce has considerably reduced violence, but incidents have been increasing steadily in recent weeks.
The truce trouble came as Palestinians in key locations like Hebron in the West Bank and Rafah in Gaza were to go to the polls Thursday to elect local leaders, balloting that could give indications of trends in advance of parliamentary elections, set for July 17.
Under terms of the ceasefire, declared Feb. 8 at a gala summit in an Egyptian resort, both sides were to halt violence, Israel would transfer five West Bank towns to Palestinian security control and free 900 prisoners, and Palestinian security would disarm fugitive militants in the towns reverting to its control.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of