The Israeli military injures a civilian in Hebron and kidnaps three others in several parts of the West Bank, these stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.

The News Cast

A Palestinian man was critically injured on Wednesday after Israeli troops shot him in the old city of Hebron, southern West Bank.

Palestinian sources said that the Israeli military sealed off the area and did not allow local medics and journalists to reach the man. They added that the man was left wounded on location for half an hour before an Israeli ambulance arrived and took him away.

The Israeli military announced that the injured man tried to attack a group of soldiers in the old city with a knife and the troops had opened fire on him before he managed to reach them.

On the same day, in a series of pre dawn raids, four Palestinian civilians were kidnapped by the Israeli military. Local Palestinian sources reported that the kidnappings took place in Hebron city, southern West Bank, Ramallah, in the central West Bank and Jenin city in the north West Bank.

The Israeli military radio announced that the four men were taken to detention camps for questioning and they were on what the army calls its “wanted list”.

On Tuesday evening Israeli soldiers broke into the Radio Bethlehem 2000 station in Beit Jala, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, and confiscated its equipment.

Station manager, George Qanawati, stated that the soldiers seized all broadcast equipment, putting the station off-air. Qanawati slammed the Israeli attack and considers it an attempt to silence the media.

Elsewhere, Palestinian sources announced that 85 Palestinian patients returned to the Gaza Strip on Wednesday through the Rafah Crossing from Egypt.

The Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza announced that the patients were allowed to go to Egypt for treatment and had been stuck at the borders for months. The ministry added that hundreds more Palestinians are still stuck at the boarders waiting to re-enter Gaza.

The Israeli siege on Gaza that started in June 2006 has left the hospitals there unable to treat many patients. Israeli and Egyptian authorities rarely allow patients to leave Gaza for medical care.

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 Zak Brophy.