Palestine Today 020409

Israel destroys homes in Jerusalem while a Palestinian in Gaza is reported dead due to wounds sustained by earlier military attacks, these stories and more coming up stay tuned.

The News Cast

A Palestinian youth from Gaza was reported dead on Wednesday at an Egyptian hospital after succumbing to wounds he sustained during Israel's attacks on Gaza last month. The Palestinian Embassy in Egypt reported that Mithqal Al Rabee, 23, was moved to Egypt for treatment earlier this week, adding that he is the 31st Palestinian to die in Egyptian hospitals.

Israel embarked on its latest full-scale military operation on December 27th, 2008. For 22 days, military sea, air and ground forces shelled homes, schools, UN centers, mosques, and media agencies, killing 1,341 Palestinians and wounding more than 5,500.

Four Palestinian owned homes were demolished by the Israeli Army in the al-Isawiya neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Witnesses told IMEMC that Israeli soldiers arrived on Wednesday morning and forced families out of their homes, demolishing a number of properties. Mo'az, who was at the scene, told IMEMC that the houses were home to 27 people.
Mo'az added that among those homes leveled today was the home of Hatem Khalil, whose home was demolished for the third time today. The man has just been released after a year in jail for building his home. Mo'az told IMEMC that Hatem had a psychological breakdown and threw himself from the top of his home when soldiers started to demolish it. He was moved to a hospital in Jerusalem with critical wounds due to the fall.
The Israeli Authorities stated that the demolished homes have been built without the required permission and documentation. Since Israel has been occupying the city of Jerusalem since 1967, Palestinian residents have rarely been given permits to build homes. Meanwhile, Israel continues to build and expand Jewish-only illegal settlements in and around Jerusalem, and all over Palestinian land in the West Bank.
Five young men from the village of Bil'in located near the central West Bank city of Ramallah were kidnapped on Wednesday by the Israeli military.

Troops stormed the village, then raided several houses and searched them. Local sources said that during the search troops took five men away. For almost four years, Bil'in village is the scene of weekly nonviolent protests against the Israeli illegal wall being built in the West Bank.


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 Jane and Ghassan Bannoura.