Palestine Today 042308

The Israeli army allowed fuel into Gaza, while in the West Bank troops kidnap 16 civilians, these stories and more coming up stay tuned.

The News Cast

The Israeli authorities began shipping large quantities of industrial gasoline to the Gaza Strip's power plant this morning, after reports said the plant would be forced to shut down by Wednesday due to lack of fuel.

Deputy-director of the Palestinian Energy Authority in Gaza, Kan'an Obaid, told media outlets today that the shipments of fuel are estimated at 800,000 to 1,000,000 liters of gasoline, which would enable partial operation of the plant for the next three days.
Obaid stated that trucks loaded with gasoline, have begun shipping fuel and are expected to complete unloading by Wednesday afternoon.

The Palestinian official confirmed that no further promises from the Israeli side were made with respect to providing the plant with any fuel other than that already slated for delivery.

Yesterday, operations director of the Gaza power plant, Dr. Derrar Abu Sisi, told IMEMC that the plant would be forced to shut down by Wednesday evening, if the fuel, needed to generate electricity, was not made available.

Palestinian sources in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, reported that a group of fighters survived an Israeli assassination attempt when an Israeli drone fired three missiles at their jeep on Tuesday evening. The fighters managed to escape unharmed while a passerby was injured and was hospitalized at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

The Israeli army kidnapped 16 Palestinians from several parts of the West Bank during pre dawn attacks on Wednesday. The invasions targeted the cities of Hebron Nablus and Tulkarem.

On Tuesday night five Palestinian civilians were injured during an Israeli military invasion targeting the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. Troops stormed the city, soldiers opened fire at the civilians in the street. Local youth clashed with the invading troops, witnesses said.

A Palestinian child sustained critical wounds on Tuesday night after an Israeli settler hit him with his car near the city of Hebron in the northern part of the West Bank.

Five years old Ahmad Al Titti, was standing beside his father on the main road connecting the city of Hebron to rest of the West Bank, when an Israeli settler rammed the child with his car.

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 Fuad Al-Zir and Ghassan Bannoura.