Palestine Today 013108

Thursday January 31, 2008 16:51 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 Thursday January 31st, 2008.

Two Palestinians die due to the Israeli siege on Gaza and meanwhile the army kidnaps 10 civilians from the northern part of the West Bank, these stories and more coming up stay tuned.

The News Cast

Palestinian medical sources reported that two Palestinian patients from Gaza died on Thursday due to the Israeli siege imposed on the Palestinian coastal region. Arafat Owdah, 23, a cancer patient and Judah Obeed, 56, with a serious illness were both reported dead by Palestinian medical sources on Thursday morning after the Israeli army would not allow them to leave the coastal region to get medical care.

With the deaths of Owdah and Obeed, the number of Palestinians who have died due to the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip since June 2007 now stands at 88. Two weeks ago the Israeli army stepped up the siege and sealed off the Gaza strip borders totally, leaving the 1.5 million residents lacking food, medicine, and fuel supplies.

One Palestinian resistance fighter was killed on Thursday morning during clashes that took place between a group of resistance fighters and Israeli troops near the borders between the southern Gaza strip town of Rafah and Israel. Dr. Mo'awiah Hassanin of the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that Mohamed Al Da'alsah, 20, died due to being shot with multiple rounds in his body.

Al Aqsa brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah movement headed by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said in a press statement that Al Da'alsah died when a group of fighters from the brigades clashed with Israeli soldiers at the borders. Israeli sources confirmed that clashes took place near a military post located near the Rafah Israel borders, but reported no injures among Israeli troops.

Also on Thursday The Israeli army invaded the northern West Bank city of Jenin and nearby Al Yamon village, where troops kidnapped six family members of Palestinian resistance fighters. Kidnapping family members is a common policy that the Israeli army uses to pressure the Palestinian resistance fighters to turn themselves in.

Meanwhile the Israeli army attacked the village of Beit Dajan, located near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, on Thursday at dawn and kidnapped four civilians.

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 Sophia Frazier and Ghassan Bannoura.

palestine | english audio report | audio report ghassanb at imemc dot org