The Hamas-run agriculture ministry in Gaza warned on Thursday of an imminent nutrition crisis in the Gaza Strip due to the continuation of the Israeli closure of Gaza's border crossings. In the West Bank, the Israeli military detained more than a dozen of Palestinian residents.

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United Nations Secretary Genearl, Ban Ki-Mooon, voiced on Thursday his concern over the growing humanitarian difficulties in the Gaza Strip, due to Israeli closure of Gaza's border crossings.

Ki-Moon phoned Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, calling on the Israeli government to ease entry of goods and basic commodities to the coastal territories.

In the mean time, the Hamas-run ministry of agriculture as well as Hamas's health ministry, called for immediate reopening of the Gaza crossings, as the humanitarian situation is getting worse.

The calls by Hamas' governmental bodies come as few poultry owners have been forced to damage thousands of chicks due to their inability to serve them the needed fodder or heating, with no single good or liter of fuel entering Gaza in the past two weeks.

Als, Gaza's hospitals are about to stop providing essential medical care to Gaza's patients because of lack of medicines and frequent cuts of power supply, as Gaza's power plant is almost run out of fuel to generate electricity.

On the ground, a Hamas fighter was reportedly killed by an Israeli tank in the early hours of Thursday, a statement by Hamas's armed wing, Ezzeldin Alqassam, read today.

In the West Bank, the Israeli military detained overnight more than 20 Palestinian residents from the cities of Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarem. Meanwhile, the Israeli police rampaged a sit-in tent in the occupied east Jerusalem, erected by a local Palestinian family there, who was displaced earlier by Jewish extremist settlers.

At the political level, the Israeli government decided to boycott the upcoming Durban conference for human rights, claiming the conference will be used by some Arab
Countries and anti-Israel parties to attack Israel.

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 Husam Qassi