Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Thursday December 20th, 2007.
The Israeli army invades central Gaza and kills three Palestinians and in the West Bank troops invade several cities and kidnap 14 civilians, these stories and more coming up stay tuned.
The News Cast
IMEMC learned that three Palestinian resistance fighters were killed early on Thursday, as the Israeli army swept into the central Gaza Strip town of Maghazi. Medical sources confirmed the arrival of three wounded at the Shuhada AL-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza Strip, but the deaths have not been confirmed. The sources said that ambulances could not reach those killed, due to intensity of Israeli army fire. Witnesses said that an Israeli tank fired a shell on a group of resistance fighters because they opened fire at the invading forces.
Witnesses told IMEMC that scores of Israeli soldiers, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, took positions on rooftops of locals' houses, about one kilometer beyond the border of the town . Since the early ours of Thursday morning, Palestinian resistance fighters have been trading gun fire with the invading forces, who have taken positions on the east of the town. Israeli army sources confirmed a moderate injury of one Israeli soldier, the Israeli media reported. The sources made clear that today's attack was a part of the army's 'routine operations'.
Well-informed sources told the IMEMC that the Israeli army has been engaged over the past few weeks in raising vast areas of arable lands, close to the border fence between central Gaza Strip and Israel. The Israeli presence has been concentrated to the south of the Almosadar mosque, to the south of Maghazi. Today's invasion comes after the Israeli military had announced stepping up attacks on the Gaza Strip, by carrying out 'attrition operations'.
Elsewhere in Gaza, Palestinian medical sources reported on Thursday that a Palestinian child died on Wednesday night because of the Israeli army siege on the Gaza Strip. Rawan Nassar, a 15 year old girl, died from kidney failure, she needed to undergo session of dialysis, but because of the army siege in the Gaza strip she was not able to leave the coastal region to get the treatment she needed.
In Gaza hospitals there are several machines that can perform the dialysis but since the army has not allowed medical supplies into Gaza for four months, these machines are not equipped to serve the needs of the 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Strip.
With the death of Nassar the number of Palestinians who have died due to being prevented from leaving Gaza for medical treatment by Israel stands at 43. The youngest was Ibraheem Abu Nahal, who was one and half years old. All entrances and exits from the Gaza strip have been closed by the Israeli Army since late June, shortly after Hamas took total control of the Gaza strip.
Meanwhile in the West Bank, the Israeli army invaded the cities of Nablus, Bethlehem and Ramallah on Thursday at dawn. The troops searched homes and kidnapped 14 Palestinian civilians.
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 Louisa White and Ghassan Bannoura.
The News Cast
IMEMC learned that three Palestinian resistance fighters were killed early on Thursday, as the Israeli army swept into the central Gaza Strip town of Maghazi. Medical sources confirmed the arrival of three wounded at the Shuhada AL-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza Strip, but the deaths have not been confirmed. The sources said that ambulances could not reach those killed, due to intensity of Israeli army fire. Witnesses said that an Israeli tank fired a shell on a group of resistance fighters because they opened fire at the invading forces.
Witnesses told IMEMC that scores of Israeli soldiers, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, took positions on rooftops of locals' houses, about one kilometer beyond the border of the town . Since the early ours of Thursday morning, Palestinian resistance fighters have been trading gun fire with the invading forces, who have taken positions on the east of the town. Israeli army sources confirmed a moderate injury of one Israeli soldier, the Israeli media reported. The sources made clear that today's attack was a part of the army's 'routine operations'.
Well-informed sources told the IMEMC that the Israeli army has been engaged over the past few weeks in raising vast areas of arable lands, close to the border fence between central Gaza Strip and Israel. The Israeli presence has been concentrated to the south of the Almosadar mosque, to the south of Maghazi. Today's invasion comes after the Israeli military had announced stepping up attacks on the Gaza Strip, by carrying out 'attrition operations'.
Elsewhere in Gaza, Palestinian medical sources reported on Thursday that a Palestinian child died on Wednesday night because of the Israeli army siege on the Gaza Strip. Rawan Nassar, a 15 year old girl, died from kidney failure, she needed to undergo session of dialysis, but because of the army siege in the Gaza strip she was not able to leave the coastal region to get the treatment she needed.
In Gaza hospitals there are several machines that can perform the dialysis but since the army has not allowed medical supplies into Gaza for four months, these machines are not equipped to serve the needs of the 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Strip.
With the death of Nassar the number of Palestinians who have died due to being prevented from leaving Gaza for medical treatment by Israel stands at 43. The youngest was Ibraheem Abu Nahal, who was one and half years old. All entrances and exits from the Gaza strip have been closed by the Israeli Army since late June, shortly after Hamas took total control of the Gaza strip.
Meanwhile in the West Bank, the Israeli army invaded the cities of Nablus, Bethlehem and Ramallah on Thursday at dawn. The troops searched homes and kidnapped 14 Palestinian civilians.
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 Louisa White and Ghassan Bannoura.
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