Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www.imemc.org for Tuesday, September 09, 2008.

As Palestinian factions representatives are meeting in Cairo with Egyptian officials for the sake of national unity between the Palestinians, Israel media sources reported that Israeli has been preparing a list of prisoners, who would be released within a prisoners swap deal. These stories and more are coming up, stay tuned.

The News Cast:

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, speaking to a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, asserted that the Palestinian leadership won't accept any partial agreements with Israel, the way stated by Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert.

Abbas also briefed the ministers on the latest talks on national unity between the Palestinian factions and Egyptian officials. On the other hand, the rival Hamas party said the talks underway in Cairo, should be based on the acceptance of Palestinian legitimacy, mainly the results of parliamentary elections of January 2006.

Hamas senior leader in Gaza, Khalil Alhaya, reiterated the same stance, adding that his party will be receiving an official invitation for Cairo talks by the end of this month.

Meanwhile, the talks over a prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel has been stalled for the past several months. Today, Israeli media reports said that Israel is prepared to decide on a list of would-be released Palestinian prisoners, comprised of 450, including 70 with long-term sentences.

These prisoners are expected to be swapped with captured Israeli soldier Gil'ad Shalit, who has been captured by Hamas since June 2006.

In Gaza, the popular local committee to break the Israeli blockade, announced today that the main medicine factory in the coastal region is about to stop working due to lack of raw materials because of the Israeli closure on border crossings.

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 Rami Al-Meghari, Hussam Qassis and Gorge Rishmawi.