One Palestinian killed in Gaza and two injured in Israel, and the Israeli military kidnaps a number of Palestinian civilians in the West bank, these stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.

Israeli shelling has killed one in Gaza, and injured three, on Thursday, whilst a home-made shell has struck a bus in Beer Sheva, southern Israel, critically injuring one and moderately injuring another.

At the time of this report, the Israeli assault on Gaza is ongoing, and currently sources report that in Gaza there has been one fatality, 50 year old Mahmoud al-Manasra, and 15 have been injured including two women and three children.

Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, has stated that he has instructed the Israeli military to respond “speedily and with every means necessary” to the home made shells into Beer Sheva.

Today’s escalation in violence follows Israeli air force bombardment of the “tunnels area” on the Gaza-Egypt border Wednesday night, and an escalation in tension between Israel and Gaza in the past two weeks.

Israeli soldiers invaded on Thursday morning the Aqaba village, east of the central West Bank city of Tubas, declared it as a closed military zone, demolished two homes bulldozers internal roads.

Sami Sadeq, head of the Al Aqaba village council, stated that 95% of the buildings in the village are under the threat of being demolished by the army. This includes the only mosque of the village, the kindergarten and many homes and structures.

Qais Awwad, head of the Awarta village Council, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, stated that Israeli soldiers invaded Awarta and detained hundreds of residents, including more than a 100 women, especially from the eastern area of the village.

Soldiers broke into dozens of homes and kidnapped hundreds of residents apparently as part of an investigation into the stabbing attack that was carried out more than a month ago, that led to the death of a settler family from Itamar settlement.

Israeli soldiers confiscated on Wednesday several agricultural tractors that belong to Palestinian residents on the Jordan Valley, and took them to a nearby illegal settlement.
Local sources reported that the soldiers installed a number of roadblocks an stopped the tractors while the residents were heading to their agricultural lands.

That sums up our news for today, thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today from the 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 me George Rishmawi.