Israel renew the controversial digging at Al Mugrabi gate in Jerusalem, and the army kidnaps two civilians north of the West Bank, these stories and more coming up so stay tuned in.

The News cast

Israeli media sources reported on Monday that the Israeli government approved a decision that allows the Jerusalem Jewish municipality to resume digging at Al Mugrabi gate. Mugrabi gate leads directly to the Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site for Muslims world wide, located in the old city of Jerusalem.

In February, 2007, Israel started the digging there, they claimed the excavations at the 'Mugrabi Gate' near the mosque were aimed at shoring up a rickety bridge.

Attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque have been a major source of conflict in the past. A provocative visit by former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in September 2000 sparked the second Palestinian uprising. Since then, over 5000 Palestinians and 1100 Israelis have been killed. According to Israeli media reports today, the Israel Antiquities Authority have been instructed by the cabinet to continue their work at the Mugrabi gate and finish it "as soon as possible".

After world wide criticism Israel stopped the controversial digging in June, Palestinian and Arab experts say that the digging is close to the Al-Aqsa Mosque foundations, and damaging them will lead to the destruction of the very important holy site. The international conference for donor countries to Palestine started on Monday in the French capital Paris with the participation of the Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and the French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The meeting included the representatives of ninety donor countries in addition to Arab countries and civil society organizations both international and Palestinian. The aim of this conference is to collect 5.9 billion US dollars, to be used in establishing and running development projects in Palestinian controlled areas over the coming three years.

Meanwhile on the ground, two Palestinians kidnapped by Israeli military forces in a pre-dawn invasion on Monday from al Far'aa refugee camp, east of West Bank city of Nablus. Israeli Forces randomly rained the camp with heavy fire during the invasion and besieged the camp from several directions, barring any movement in or outside the camp until the morning.

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 Caroline Jones and Ghassan Bannoura.