Palestine Today 050807

Tuesday May 08, 2007 16:39 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC - Audio Dept.

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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday May 8th, 2007.

The Israeli army demolishes a disabled children's society in Jerusalem and kidnaps at least 28 civilians in several parts of the West Bank. These stories and more coming up, stay tuned.

The West Bank Update
Israeli army bulldozers demolished a Palestinian owned building that hosted a disabled children's society, located in Wadi Al Joze neighborhood in east Jerusalem, on Tuesday morning. Palestinian sources reported that Israeli army troops stormed the neighborhood in the morning, and then two bulldozers destroyed a building that belongs to Hanni Totah from Jerusalem. The building was used by a Palestinian NGO called Al Nojom (the stars) society that works with physically challenged children.

Israeli authorities used the excuse that the building was built without valid permits; permits that Israel has rarely given to Palestinians living in Jerusalem since it occupied the city in1967. Human rights organizations in the city stated that since the beginning of this year, Israel has destroyed 48 Palestinian owned buildings and houses under the pretext of being built without permits.

Also on Tuesday morning, the Israeli army invaded several parts of the West Bank and kidnapped at least 28 Palestinian civilians. 14 of those kidnapped were from the city of Tulkarem. A massive army force entered the city form several directions, soldiers searched and attacked residents' homes in the city and in a nearby village. Palestinian security sources in Tulkarem stated that the military attack lasted for four hours. The force left the area after kidnapping 14 residents.

Late on Monday night in Doha village near Bethlehem, a massive Israeli force surrounded a local resistance leader's house. After seven hours, troops left having failed to abduct him, leaving the house partially demolished and three injured children among them two girls who were beaten up by the soldiers.

The Israeli army stated that its operations today were aimed at locating and kidnapping a local Palestinian resistance fighter. Palestinian sources reported that all those kidnapped today by the army are civilians. By the end of last week the number of Palestinians kidnapped and forced into detention camps since the beginning of this year had risen to 1,062. There are currently around 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli detention camps, the majority held without charge.

The Gaza update
Palestinian medial sources said that an Israeli air strike on Monday evening wounded a Palestinian resident of northern Gaza. Senior Palestinian Health Ministry official, Mo’awiya Abu Hasanain, confirmed that an unidentified Palestinian man driving a Volkswagen car east of Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza was shot and wounded when his car was hit by an Israeli air missile.

Abu Hasanain said that the wounded injury was slight to moderate and that he was admitted to the Al-shifa hospital of Gaza for treatment. Witnesses said that at least two missiles were fired by an Israeli warplane in northern Gaza. The Islamic Jihad (holy war) announced that a group of its fighters escaped an Israeli raid in northern Gaza on Monday afternoon. Israeli defense minister, Amir Perets, was quoted as saying today that Israel is currently considering the timing and extent of its likely offensive on Gaza and that his army’s current actions are ‘defensive’.

On Monday, an Israeli warplane fired a group of civilians in the northern Gaza Strip city of Beit Hanoun, while a tank fired a shell at the vicinity of a local cemetery in the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza.
Conclusion
Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today from the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, brought to you by Polly Bangoriad and Ghassan Bannoura.

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