Palestine Today 102308

A Palestinian youth kills an Israeli settler in a settlement near Bethlehem, Meanwhile, Israeli president, Shimon Peres, declared today in Egypt Israel’s acceptance of the Arab peace initiative of 2002. These stories and more are coming up, stay tuned.

A Palestinian resident of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, was reportedly killed after he allegedly killed an Israeli settler and wounded a policeman in the Israeli settlement of Gilo near the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem.

The Palestinian was identified as, Mohammad al-Badan, 20 from the village of Tiqu’a near Bethlehem. Palestinian security sources did not confirm Al-Badan’s death. Meanwhile, a large Israeli military force rolled into the village and surrounded Al-Badan’s home forcing the family out saying that the house will be demolished.

Following clashes with some stone-throwing youth in the village, Israeli troops pulled out taking prisoner Al-Badan’s sister Maisaa’ and his neighbor Mohammad al-Sha’er.

According to Maan News Agency, an Israeli eyewitness told the Israeli TV that as he was passing with his car, he saw al-Badan engaged in an argument with the policeman. The eyewitness whose name was revealed added that he saw the policeman falling down, which made him stop. The policeman told him that he was stabbed four times, the witness said, adding that he did not see any weapon. The policeman shot al-Badan as he was running away. The eyewitness added that as he chased al-Badan to an alley, al-Badan accidently hit an elderly man causing him to fall on the ground. He caught al-Badan until the police arrived and arrested him. The elderly man was pronounced dead later on.

In a separate incident, Israeli troops invaded two refugee camps in the West Bank and detained more than 12 residents in various parts of the West Bank.

In the meantime, the Israeli Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, approved the deployment of 500 Palestinian Authority security personnel in the outskirts of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.

There have been security coordination between Palestinians and Israelis since the signing of the Oslo peace accords in 1993. However, the past eight years have witnessed non-stop Israeli military actions against Palestinian cities, villages and refugee camps.

At the political level, Israeli President, Shimon Peres, declared in Egypt on Thursday that he accepts the Arab peace initiative of 2002, which was endorsed by Arab states during this year's Arab states summit.

Peres' remarks came during a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart, Husni Mubarak, in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm Elshiekh.

When the Arab peace initiative was launched in 2002, the Israeli military reoccupied the major cities of the West Bank which was an clear rejection to the initiative which offers full normalization with Israel in exchange of full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.

In Gaza, the Egyptian authorities reopened today the Rafah crossing terminal for few hours in the afternoon, to allow the return of some stranded patients and travelers to the Gaza Strip.

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 Rami Al-Meghari, and George Rishmawi.