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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org for Wednesday October 15.2008

Palestine became today a permanent member of the International Parliamentary Union, as the Israeli military killed earlier in the day a Palestinian boy in Ramallah city. Meanwhile, the Palestinian national unity talks in Cairo are going on with no concrete progress. These news and more are upcoming, stay tuned.

During a meeting of the International Parliamentary Union's member states in Geneva, a vote gave Palestine a permanent member status at the union. Palestinian officials regarded the move a historic achievement for the Palestinian people.

It is the first time in modern Palestinian history that Palestine be accepted as a full member of an international organization. Israel occupied Palestine in 1948 and since then the Palestinians have been struggling for their basic rights as a sovereign state.

Meanwhile, Israeli military actions in the occupied West Bank continued on Wednesday, as a teen Palestinian boy of the Jalazoun refugee camp near Ramallah city was killed and two others were wounded by the Israeli soldiers.

In addition, the Israeli troops detained four Palestinian residents from the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

In the Gaza Strip, spokesman of the Saraya Alquds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad group, Abu Ahmad, confirmed his faction preserves the right to terminate current ceasefire with Israel in light of what he called Israeli procrastination to reopen Gaza's crossings.

Abu Ahmad, however, maintained that what makes his group refrains from taking that step is the Islamic Jihad's concern over national consensus towards the matter.

Also in Gaza, Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, opposed today to holding bilateral talks with the rival Hamas party within the framework of underway national dialogue in Cairo.

Hamas considered Fatah's rejection as a slam to the Egyptian mediation efforts to end Palestinian division, in place since Hamas took over Gaza and Fatah formed its own government in the West Bank in the summer of last year.

Amidst such a controversy, Cairo intends to involve other Palestinian public figures, such as religious dignitaries and local community leaders, in the upcoming rounds of national dialogue, Palestinian media sources reported today.

In an unrelated issue, U.S Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, said during a meeting of investors in Washington yesterday, that every possible effort should be exerted in order to reach a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine before the end of her administration's term in office in January2009.

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 Rami Al-Meghari, and George Rishmawi

From now onwards, Palestine will be represented in the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) as a permanent member, a meeting of the union's member states, excluding Israel, decided Wednesday.

The decision read that the Palestinian National Council will be representing Palestine at the IPU in Geneva.

Palestinian officials voiced their happiness for the decision, considering it as a historic day in the life of the Palestinian people.

Abdullah Abdullah, an advisor to the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who participated in the vote, was quoted by Palestine News Network (PNN) as saying, "This is a historic achievement for the Palestinian people."

Ambassador of Palestine to the United Nations in Geneva, Ibrahim Khraisha, described the decision as, "A big national festivity for the Palestinian people, as the participants clapped loudly for the Palestinian people's right to such an international organization."

Head of the major Fatah parliamentary bloc at the Palestinian Legislative Council, Azzam Alahmad, expressed gratefulness to all Arab and international parties that helped reach such an achievement, asserting the need to continue the struggle for a Palestinian statehood with Jerusalem as its capital.

Worthy of mention, it is the first time in Palestinian modern history that Palestine is accepted as a permanent member of an international organization. Currently , Palestine is represented by an observer mission at the United Nations.

Israel occupied historic Palestine in 1948, and since then the Palestinian people have been struggling for their basic rights as a recognized nation worldwide.

Spokesman of the Saraya Alquds brigades of the Islamic Jihad group in Gaza, Abu Ahmad, said on Wednesday that his armed faction reserves the right to end the ceasefire with Israel, yet the faction is considering aPalestinian consensus on the matter.

In a statement emailed to media outlets, the spokesman was quoted as saying, "Our refrain from responding to the Israeli breaches of the ceasefire in Gaza stems from our concern over national consensus and unity of the internal front."

Abu Ahmad pointed a finger at Israel as breaching current ceasefire for keeping the commercial and travel crossings closed, particularly the Rafah crossing terminal, which is the sole outlet to the outside world for Gaza's 1.5 million residents.

He explained that his faction agreed to the ceasefire deal, based on its interest in easing the debilitating Israeli blockade being enforced on the people for the past 16 months now.

On another note, the Saraya Alquds's statement read, "What is going on in the occupied east Jerusalem as well as the Israeli-Arab city of Acre (Akka), is a part of the Israeli plans to undermine the Palestinian resistance against the occupation."

In June of this year, the Gaza-based Palestinian factions and Israel agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deal, stipulating the halt of homemade shell fire onto nearby Israeli towns and gradually lifting the crippling Israeli blockade on Gaza.

According to the local popular committee for breaking the Israeli siege, only a third of Gaza's population needs of commodities and raw materials have been met since the ceasefire took effect.

Cairo will broaden contacts for Palestinian national unity talks underway in the Egyptian capital, Palestinian media sources reported.

According to the sources, the upcoming contacts will involve a number of Palestinian public figures who will arrive in Cairo in a few days time in order to hold discussions with Egyptian mediators.

Egypt's reason for such a move is to explore new ideas for a successful dialogue between the rival Hamas and Fatah parties in a bid to end current division, the sources said.

Among those to hold talks shortly in Cairo are religious dignitaries and local community leaders, in order to convince those negotiating over unity that the Palestinian higher national interests are the most significant.

Meanwhile, in the presence of Egyptian officials, the rival Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced Wednesday that it has not yet received an official invitation for a bilateral meeting with the Hamas party.

Ibrahim Abuelnajja, a Gaza-based Fatah leader who is taking part in the Cairo talks, opposed the idea of holding such a bilateral dialogue, arguing that any talks with Hamas should involve representatives of other Palestinian factions.

Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Fawzi Barhoum, was quoted by media outlets as commenting, "Hamas regards Fatah's rejection to a bilateral talk as a slam to Egyptian mediation efforts to restart a genuine dialogue leading to genuine intra-Palestinian conciliation.".

In February 2007, both parties jointly formed a national unity government following Saudi Arabian mediation. Four months later, fighting broke out, resulting in Hamas taking over Gaza and Fatah-loyal security services ousted from the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military shot and killed a 17-year-old teen late last night who was from the Jallazoun refugee camp late in the north of the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Medical sources reported that Mohammad Zaid, 17, was killed and two other teens were wounded by Israeli gun fire in the Jallazoun refugee camp.

Witnesses said that the Israeli soldiers opened heavy fire on a number of boys who were walking down a street between the Beit Ail Israeli illegal settlement and the Jallazoun camp's school.

Witnesses added that the soldiers took the victim's corpse to an unknown destination.

No further details were reported.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military detained four Palestinian residents last night, including three from the Alkhader town of West Bank city of Bethlehem and a fourth from the Deir Abu Mash'al village of Ramallah city.

Witnesses said that an Israeli troops contingent stormed the Alkhader town and detained Mohammad Salah and Ahmad Salah, two brothers, then took them to an unknown destination.