Israeli settler attacks continue against Palestinian Jerusalem residents, while Israeli police arrest hundreds of Palestinian workers, these stories and more coming up, stay tuned.

The News Cast

The Israeli Authorities decided to expel seven Palestinians, from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, in East Jerusalem, out of the city for 45 days after they clashed with extremist jewish settlers who attempted to forcefully occupy Palestinian homes in the city.

Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood is subjected to an ongoing campaign by Israeli settlers, encouraged by settler leaders and the state, to occupy more Palestinian homes and expel the residents from the city.

Also in Jerusalem, the Israeli Police carried out a wide scale campaign targeting Palestinian workers who entered the city seeking work to provide food for their families, without obtaining permits from Israeli authorities, and arrested 214 of them.

The Israeli Police stated that the 214 Palestinian workers are from different parts of the West Bank, and added that 15 Israelis were also detained for hiring Palestinian workers and providing them transportation and places to stay in the country.

As the Annexation Wall continues to strangle the Palestinians and isolate them from their lands and from the rest of the Palestinian territories, Palestinian workers have no other option than working in Israel without permits and risk going to jail.

In other news, the Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, stated Thursday that it is waiting for Israel’s response on Shalit's deal and that it is up to Israel if they want their prisoner of war to be with his family by the beginning of the New Year.

For his part, Hamas' exiled leader Khaled Mashal said Israel is refusing to accept Hamas' conditions holding up Shalit's deal, adding that Hamas is ready to implement the deal without any delays should Israel approve it.

Israeli private Gilad Shalit has been captured by Palestinian armed resistance groups on June 25, 2006. Hamas and Shalit's other captors are calling for the release of some Palestinian prisoners including Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi and leftist leader Ahmad Sa'adat, both are elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and are serving life terms in Israeli jails in exchange of releasing Shalit.

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, George Rishmawi.