Palestine Today 021208

The Israeli army invades Gaza city leaving one Palestinian resistance fighter and an Israeli soldier injured; whilst in Gaza the Israeli army seizes 17 Palestinian civilians. These stories and more coming up, stay tuned.

The News Cast

A number of Israeli army tanks from an undercover unit arrived in the eastern neighborhood of Gaza City on Tuesday morning. Local Palestinian sources said that the Israeli troops clashed with a number of resistance fighters, who were deployed in the area, in defense of the civilian population.

Medical sources confirmed the slight injury of two fighters during the first few hours of gun fire. The wounded were treated on the field by ambulance crews. Meanwhile, Israeli media sources reported that one Israeli soldier was wounded during the shootout, the soldier was taken to the southern Israeli hospital of Surruka.

In the West Bank today the Israeli army attacked and searched Palestinian homes in several areas seizing at least 17 Palestinian civilians. During the morning the Israeli army attacked money exchange shops in the cities of Nablus and Rammallah. 11 money exchange shop owners were amongst those seized.

Meanwhile Israeli police forces detained on Tuesday, Hatem Abed Al Qadder, the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's advisor for Jerusalem affairs.
Palestinian sources reported that Al Qadder was leaving his home located in the Shu'fat neighbourhood, in the eastern part of Jerusalem city, when Israeli police forced him into a police vehicle. The sources added that Al Qadder was moved to an Israeli secret police interrogation centre in Navah Yakove, the Jewish settlement in the city of Jerusalem.

The Israeli government announced on Tuesday that it approved the construction of an additional 11,100 housing units in two settlements in the city of Jerusalem. According to the government statement, 360 units will be constructed in Harhuma settlement located between the city of Jerusalem and the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. Harhuma settlement was built illegally during the early 90's on land that belongs to Palestinians from the Bethlehem area.

The remaining 750 housing units will be added to Besghat Za'ev settlement to the north of Jerusalem. Israeli officials said that the new houses are mainly intended for young Jewish couples; but are also to encourage more Israeli's to move within the Jerusalem city boundary in order to achieve the "Greater Jerusalem" plan.
This plan has been drawn up by the Israeli Government and aims to leave the city of Jerusalem surrounded by the wall and the settlements, effectively disconnecting the city from the rest of the West Bank. With an estimated population of 90% Israeli's and 10% Palestinians by the year 2010.

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. This report has been brought to you by Morwenna Pencarrow and Ghassan Bannoura.