Palestine Today

The Gaza Update

Palestinian medical sources reported that one man in his 20s was shot and killed by the Israeli army near Eretz border crossing in northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday at dawn. The sources added that soldiers detained the body for some time before handing it over to a Palestinian ambulance. Medics in the ambulance said that the man remains unidentified due to severe mutilation of his skull and face. The man was hit with heavy artillery fire in the back of his head, medics added.

On Wednesday morning, Israeli tanks stationed at the northern borders between Gaza and Israel continued to shell residents' homes and farm lands in Bit Lahia town, causing damage but no injuries. For the sixth day, Israeli troops continued their invasion to the eastern and northern parts of the Gaza Strip and stationed dozens of armored vehicles east of Beit Hanoun, and north of Beit Lahia.

The Israeli air-force shelled on Tuesday night after midnight the house of Nidal Farahat, one of the leaders of Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, and the son of a female Hamas legislator, Mariam Farahat. The shelling completely destroyed Farahat’s house, in Gaza City, and damaged his mother’s house nearby.

Local sources reported that an F16 Israeli fighter-jet fired at least two missiles at the house shortly after phoning the family and ordering them to evacuate in preparation to shell their house. An Israeli military spokesperson said that the shelled house was also used for storing weapons belonging to Al Qassam Brigades. No injuries were reported, Palestinian medical sources said.

The West Bank Update

Israeli forces invaded the city of Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank Wednesday and killed one resident and took four prisoners. At dawn, Israeli soldiers killed Jericho resident Abdullah Mohammad Mansour, 29, as he was watching the invasion from a balcony in ‘Ein Beit Al Ma, a refugee camp located in Nablus, according to photojournalist Elias Dowla. Soldiers did not allow medical aid to reach Mansour, who was visiting relatives at the time, causing him to bleed to death.

In a contradictory account of the killing, Haaretz reported that Mansour was a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, and had been on the army’s wanted list for some time. The Israeli army said that they shot Mansour in the head while the 31 year old militant tried to detonate explosives nearby. Soldiers said that Mansour was killed in his home as he watched Israeli soldiers clashing with militants from his window.
According to PNN, armed resistance fighters in the camp retaliated by throwing an explosive at one of the Israeli military jeeps. No injuries were reported on either side.

Israeli soldiers also invaded and raided homes in another neighborhood and took two prisoners. Israeli forces invaded Balata Refugee Camp and took three prisoners. Soldiers also invaded Askar Refugee Camp with military jeeps and one bulldozer, which , plowed through the narrow streets, damaging a major source of water and the central market. No prisoners were taken nor injuries reported.

Israeli soldiers invaded, on Wednesday at dawn, Qabatia town near Jenin and exchanged fire with resistance fighters. Six residents, including two brothers, were taken prisoner in several areas near Jenin, Palestinian sources reported. Soldiers, supported by twenty armored vehicles and jeeps invaded Qabatia and exchanged fire with resistance fighters from Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, and members of the Salah Ed Deen Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees.

Two brothers, identified as Awwad and Mohammad Kamil, were taken prisoner in Qabatia. An Israeli military source claimed that the two are members of Al Quds Brigades. Four other residents were taken prisoner and taken to an unknown destination. In Al Yamoun village, also near Jenin, soldiers exchanged fired with resistance fighters from Al Quds Brigades, and Al Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fateh.

More prisoners were taken from other parts of the West Bank on Wednesday. The army took two prisoners from Azune village, east of Qalqilia city, and in a separate incident, soldiers took two residents prisoner in a dawn invasion of AL Khader village near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Another was taken from Hebron city, in southern West Bank and finally one from Ein Al Beda village in the Jordan Valley.

Conclusion

Thank you for joining us from Occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today from the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org brought to you by Caysha Cay & Ghassan Bannoura.