Settlers attack farmers and uproot trees in the west Bank and the navy attack fishermen in Gaza, these stories and more coming up, stay tuned.

The News Cast

Israeli settlers uprooted more than 150 olive and grape trees from Palestinian-owned land near the settlement of Bat Ayin, near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, on Monday.

Settlers from Bat Ayin also set fires in the same area. Witnesses said that the settlers carried out these attacks under the protection of Israeli soldiers.

Last Friday, Israeli soldiers assaulted Palestinian and Israeli peace activists who held a demonstration in the same area. Seven protesters were arrested.

Bat Ayin is known as one of the most militant settlements in the West Bank, and has been a flashpoint for recent violence.

A group of Israeli settlers known as the “Bat Ayin Militia” were convicted for an attempt to bomb a Palestinian girls’ school in 2002. In April a Palestinian man killed a teenage settler with an axe near Bat Ayin.

Also in the southern West Bank, the Israeli military kidnapped 11 Palestinian civilians during invasions targeting villages near the city of Hebron on Monday.

Local sources said that all those kidnapped were men and the military took them to unknown locations.

The Israeli navy kidnapped four Gazan fishermen on Monday morning after stopping their boats off the Gaza City coast. They were taken to Israel’s Ashdod port, north of the Gaza Strip.

Local sources said that the Israeli warships obstructed two fishing boats, taking four fishermen, all members of the As-Sultan family, while they were sailing in the As-Sudaniyya area. The sources added that Israeli navy officers beat the fishermen and also confiscated their boats.


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.