In Gaza, on Tuesday evening a Palestinian fighter was assassinated and another resident was injured in an Israeli Air Strike targeting the fighter. The fighter was a member of the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad.

Also on Tuesday, Palestinian Security Forces in the West Bank arrested Professor, Isam Rashed Al Ashqar at a roadblock in the West Bank City of Nablus. The sons of Al Ashqar, Mojahid and Anas, are both detained by the Palestinian Security Forces for their affiliation with the Hamas movement. A third son of Al Ashqar is currently imprisoned by Israel.

On Wednesday, Analysts working for the Israeli TV, Channel 2, accused Palestinian Prime Minister, Dr. Salaam Fayyad, of leading a boycott campaign targeting Israeli products. Fayyad had previously only called for the boycott of products of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories.

Israeli military bulldozers demolished an illegal settlement outpost installed by fundamentalist settlers near Qasra village, south of the West Bank city of Nablus.


The Turkish Humanitarian Foundation (IHH) that led the Freedom Flotilla that was attacked by the Israeli army last year, announced that Freedom Flotilla 2 will be sailing to the Gaza Strip by the end of May this year.

Seventeen homes and a school were demolished by Israeli military forces in the small Bedouin village of Al-Daqeqa, East of Yatta in the southern Hebron Hills.

In East Jerusalem news, Adnan Ghaith, from Silwan, East Jerusalem, moved to Ramallah today after he received a deportation order from Israeli authorities. The order stipulates that he be barred from entering Jerusalem for four months starting today. Ghaith is an active member of the Al-Bustan Popular Committee, as well as Fatah Secretary

In related news, Wadi Hilweh Information Center director Jawad Siyam’s house arrest was extended at his hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrates Court today. The Judge ruled that Siyam’s period of house arrest be extended until his next court appearance, 22 February 2011.

Last week, Israel increased funding for Birthright, a 10-day free Zionist educational trip to Israel, which aims to bring 51,000 Jewish young adults to Israel annually by 2013. Israel has pledged to add $100 million in funding to the program.


That sums up our news for today, thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem, you have been listening to Palestine Today, from International Middle East Media Center. For more updates, please visit our website at www.imemc.org. This report has been brought to you by Husam Qassis and Ramona M.