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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday November 3rd, 2009.
A patient died in Gaza due to the siege, while settlers take over a Palestinian owned house in Jerusalem. These stories and more coming up stay tuned.
The News Cast
A Palestinian patient was reported dead on Tuesday after he was unable to leave the Gaza Strip for the life saving medical care he needed.
Doctors announced that Ass’ad Asfour, aged 51, died of a lung cancer after the Israeli Authorities prevented him from leaving the besieged Gaza Strip for medical care.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza reported today that the number of patients who have died because of the Israeli siege has reached 364.
Israel started its siege on the Gaza Strip in June of 2006 which has resulted in a severe shortage of essential supplies for the 1.5 million Palestinians living there. Gazan hospitals have been rendered unable to treat most medical cases.
Elsewhere a group of Israeli settlers took over on Tuesday a Palestinian owned home in the Sheikh Jarah neighborhood near Jerusalem’s old city.
Owner of the house, Rifqa Al Kurd, 85 years old, was forced out before settlers took over the house. When residents gathered outside Israeli police attacked them and forced them away enabling the settlers to take over the property.
Half of Rifqa’s house was sealed closed by an Israeli court order seven years ago and she had been living in the other half awaiting a court decision that was scheduled this week. The Israeli municipality claims that the house was built without a proper license.
There are 28 Palestinian families living in Sheikh Jarah but Israeli settlers claim the land which the homes are built on used to belong to Jews before the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.
The settlers said that the court ruled in their favor last week and gave them the keys to the house. The Israeli police have ordered the settlers to leave the property for 10 days and they have instructed the al-Kurd family to appeal to the court.
According to eye witnesses, although the settlers have left the house they have posted two private security guards out side the property.
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 has been brought to you by Ghassan Bannoura.
