In Gaza the number of patients needing medical care outside the Strip rises and tension builds in Jerusalem; these stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.

The News Cast

According to the Department responsible for Borders and Crossings at least 700 Palestinian patients are waiting for the opening of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza so they can access treatment outside the Strip. Many of those waiting were injured during the Israeli offensive against Gaza which ended in mid January.

Israel's 22 month-long siege of Gaza has claimed the lives of 320 Palestinian patients. Doctors say that number may increase rapidly if the closure continues. The Cast Lead military attack on Gaza started on December 27th 2008, and ended on the 18 of January 2009. It left 1,400 Palestinians dead, 6,000 injured and at least 10,000 were made homeless.

The most recent victims are two women who died on Tuesday of this week. Both had applied for permission to leave Gaza for treatment but their applications were turned down by Israel.

Also in the news today, Tension is building up in the old city of Jerusalem as Israeli settlers and right wing groups announced on Wednesday that they intend to invade the courtyard of the Al Aqsa mosque some time on Thursday. Local sources in Jerusalem report that Israeli police and army have increased their numbers within the old city in there are disturbances. .

Palestinian NGOs and religious leaders have called upon Palestinians to go to Al Aqsa on Thursday to foil the settlers. The settlers say they will hold a rally in the old city of Jerusalem on Thursday to mark the end of the Passover holidays.
Israeli media sources report that it maybe the largest since Israel occupied the city of Jerusalem in 1967.

Elsewhere a Palestinian man was kidnapped by Israeli troops at a military checkpoint near the northern West Bank city of Tubas on Wednesday. Witnesses said Israeli soldiers stopped the young man, took his ID card and then held him in a nearby detention cell. Later a military vehicle took him away to an unspecified location.

There are at least 500 military checkpoints in the West Bank dividing it into 64 separate areas. The majority of these checkpoint are located beaten Palestinian population centers, rather than between Palestinian and Israeli areas.

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 Dave Thompson and Ghassan Bannoura.