Letter from Mideast: A thin line between ordinary and military

NAMPA / Xinhua
2026-02-13
RAMALLAH, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- I was driving through the West Bank city of Ramallah the other day when I suddenly saw a plume of white smoke rising from a dumpster by the hillside road. Tear gas? The thought flickered instantly. It looked familiar, the resemblance unsettling. Almost instinctively, I scanned my surroundings: no armored vehicles, no Palestinians hurrying to scatter. I exhaled -- it was a false alarm. Many things once taken for......
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