The West Bank Update
A Palestinian civilian was killed when a Palestinian Police officer shot him by mistake in Ramallah on Thursday afternoon, sources from the Palestinian police reported.
A Palestinian police officer opened fire at the wheels of a car that attempted to avoid a police roadblock, setup for a regular car registration and insurance check in down town Ramallah. However, a bystander, whose name remains unknown as of writing this report, was killed in the shooting.
Scores of the deceased man's relatives from the nearby Amari and Qadora refugee camps, took to the streets and started throwing rocks at the police cars in the city center. The clashes later escalated to gunfire, however no injuries were reported.
Palestinian police and anti-riot security forces were deployed in the city and managed to end the clashes.
In Hebron city, in the southern part of the West Bank, the Israeli army abducted three Palestinian men from different parts of the city, on Thursday. The sources stated that soldiers attacked and searched houses in downtown Hebron city, and abducted three men. They were known as; Raed Al Zier, aged 22, Raed Al Ka'ki, 35, and Nidal Al Mutawar, 26.
Israeli troops invaded Jenin city and Jenin refugee camp then searched and ransacked a number of houses. They abducted Khalid Mir'y, 27, from Jenin city and Mohamed Abu Khalifa, 30, from Jenin refugee camp.
On Thursday morning the Israeli army also invaded Hindaza neighborhood, in the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. Local sources in Bethlehem city reported that an Israeli army force surround the house of Mussa Nawawarah, 53. They searched and ransacked it then abducted Nawawarah and took him to an unknown detention camp.
The Gaza Update
One Palestinian man was shot and injured by Israeli army fire in the eastern part of the Gaza strip on Thursday evening.
Dr. Mu'awiah Hassanin director of the Palestinian Ministry of Health Emergency and Ambulance Department reported that Israeli troops stationed at the eastern Gaza Strip borders opened fire at a Palestinian man and injured him. Dr. Hassanin added that ambulance teams are still attempting to rescue the man; he gave no name as of the time of this report.
The Israeli army reinforced Thursday its presence on the southeastern Gaza border, mainly to the east of Alqarrara town near Khan Younis, witnesses said. Witnesses added that several armored vehicles have been stationed on the border, to the east of their town, and voiced concern that such reinforcements are part of an Israeli attack on the area.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes have been hovering over different parts of the Gaza Strip since the early morning.
These latest developments come after Israeli ministers gestured recently a possible attack on the Gaza Strip, while the latest Israeli/Palestinian/American summit meeting in west Jerusalem failed to achieve its objectives, according to commentators. Israel and Palestinians agreed last November to a ceasefire, halting a five-month old Israeli army offensive and firing by Palestinian resistance factions of home-made rockets at nearby Israeli towns.
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, brought to you by Jane Smith and Ghassan Bannoura.