One killed four injured in Gaza and troops detain 12 Palestinians from the West Bank. These stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.

One Palestinian was killed and four other members of his family were wounded on Thursday at dawn, when a power generator exploded in their house in Rafah city, southern Gaza Strip. Mohamed Taha, 26 years old, died to severe burns, his father and brothers sustained light wounds, doctors reported.

Taha was trying to install a power generator in his house when the accident took place, the family said. Residents in Gaza have to depend on private power generators to get electricity.

The Israeli Air force bombarded the Gaza only power plant destroying half of its generators. The other half has to shutdown 12 hours a day due to fuel shortages. Israel tightened its siege on the Gaza Strip in June of 2007, rendering the 1.5 million Palestinians living in the costal enclave lacking much needed Food, fuel and medical supplies.

Also in the Gaza Strip, around 105 Palestinian patients and stranded families and students managed to come back into the Gaza Strip on Thursday via the Rafah terminal.

The Rafah terminal at the borders with Egypt, the only way for Palestinians in or out of the Gaza Strip, was closed for 37 days till it was open today. Egypt says that Rafah terminal will open for 3 days starting on Saturday May 15th.

Rafah crossing was being run by joined Palestinian Egyptian forces overlooked by EU monitors according to an agreement between Palestinian President Abbas and Israel in 2005. When the elected Hamas movement ousted Abbas forces from the Gaza Strip in June 2007, ending months of fighting, Egypt closed the border crossing, opining it only few days a year for special cases only.

Elsewhere, The Israeli military detained on Thursday 12 Palestinian civilians during pre dawn invasions targeting a number of West Bank.

Palestinian sources reported invasions in Jericho and Jordan valley villages where troops searched and ransacked homes before taking the 12 men away. The Israeli military announced that all detained were handed over to the Israeli Secret service Shin-Bit foe questioning.


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.