Palestine Today 013008

Wednesday January 30, 2008 18:53 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Wednesday January 30th, 2008.

One Palestinian woman dies in Gaza due to the Israeli siege while in the West Bank army attacks leave one injured in Jenin, these stories and more coming up stay tuned.

The News Cast

Palestinian medical sources reported on Wednesday that a Palestinian woman died late Tuesday night because the Israeli army would not allow her to leave the Gaza Strip for medical care. The sources said that Amneh Al Madhon, aged 60 had Breast Cancer. Al Madhon is the 85th patient to die from a serious illness in Gaza due to the Israeli siege that has been imposed on the Palestinian coastal region since June 2007.

Also in the northern part of the Gaza strip, Israeli jet fighters shelled farm lands and residential areas in Beit Hannon town, damage to property was reported but no injures. Later in the day the Al Qudes brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad announced that the group fired three home made shells at an Israeli military post located at the borders between central Gaza and Israel, Israeli sources reported no injures.

On Wednesday afternoon the Israeli high court of justice approved Israeli armies reduction in fuel and power supplies to the Gaza strip. The court decided that as long as the reduced shipments of the supplies meet the humanitarian needs of the 1.5 million Gazans then the cuts are legal.

The Israeli government has placed the Gaza Strip under strict siege since June 2007, and in the following October the Israeli Defense Minister Ehod Barak ordered the Israeli army to reduce the supply of electricity, gasoline and diesel that is supplied to Gaza. Two weeks ago the Israeli government stopped all supplies from getting into Gaza leaving the region without electricity and food. Several days later Israel allowed reduced shipments of fuel and food supplies into Gaza after world wide criticism.

The three judge panel in the court said that the decision was to counter the Palestinian home made shell attacks on Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip. Israeli attacks and the siege on the Gaza strip over the past two weeks has left at least 50 Palestinians dead, whilst Palestinian home made shell attacks in the same period of time aimed at Israeli towns near Gaza left three Israelis lightly injured. Also in its ruling on Wednesday the Israeli court dismissed a petition presented by several Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations seeking to stop the Israeli government from reducing the supply of fuel and electricity to Gaza.

Meanwhile in the West Bank on Wednesday The Israeli army invaded the city of Jenin, during the attack troops injured one civilian and kidnapped another four. Witnesses said that undercover Israeli soldiers invaded Jenin city, they surrounded and searched a house that belongs to Ali Al Sous, later ten Israeli military jeeps followed the undercover forces; troops forced the residents out of the house and made them stay out in the rain until the attack was finished.

When the army jeeps invaded the city troops opened fire randomly at residents' homes and injured Mohamed Al Ashkar, 30, medical sources said that the man sustained light wounds.

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. This report brought to you by Caroline Jones and Ghassan Bannoura.

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