Israeli settlers attack farmers in the West Bank and the military uproots trees on the Gaza borders, these stories and more coming up; stay tuned.

The News Cast

Israeli settlers supported by military units have been bulldozing Palestinian farmlands that belongs the villagers of Sartah near the northern West Bank city of Salfit
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Local sources reported on Wednesday that the settlers have destroyed 50 Acers of farmland; the famers said bulldozers uprooted olive trees, the main source of income for most farmers. Settlers came from the illegal Israeli settlement of Burkan, an industrial Israeli settlement originally built on lands stolen from the villagers of Sartah.

Elsewhere the Israeli Jerusalem municipality announced on Wednesday that it had finalized all the preparations needed to demolish 50 Palestinian-owned homes in Jerusalem.

The homes are located at Al Bustan neighborhood just outside the old city of Jerusalem. On February of this year the Israeli Jerusalem municipality announced plans to demolish 88 Palestinian-owned homes located at Al Bustan neighborhood. The municipality says the homes are built without permissions.

Since Israeli occupied the city of Jerusalem in 1967 it has rarely given Palestinian residents of the city permissions to built homes. The municipality legal advisor told the home owners on Wednesday that the 50 home will be demolished by a private Israeli company this summer, but gave no exact date.

Also in the news today a number of Israeli tanks and bulldozers invaded farm lands located near the northern Gaza Israeli borders on Wednesday morning. Farmers told local media that tanks and bulldozers uprooted some trees and destroyed farm lands. They added tanks opened fire at nearby, no injuries were reported. Also in Gaza, Palestinian resistance groups announced on Wednesday that they targeted a military vehicle near the northern borders with a road side bomb.

The Islamic Jihad announced that their fighters detonated the bomb near an army vehicle; the military reported no injuries among troops. The Egyptian Authorities opened the Rafah border terminal on Tuesday at night for a short period to allow the return of 18 patients and family members back into Gaza. The patients had undergone medical treatment in Libyan hospitals.

Palestinian sources reported that the Egyptian Authorities coordinated the return with the Palestinian side in Gaza and with the Libyan government. Ten other patients had returned to Gaza earlier on Tuesday following medical treatment in Egypt. The Rafah border terminal between Gaza and Egypt remains largely closed although patients are periodically allow crossing.

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 Ghassan Bannoura and George Rishmawi.