Palestine Today 020909

Israeli army attacks Gaza killing two fighters and settlers attack farmers in the West Bank, these stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.

The News Cast

Three Palestinian men were reported dead on Monday morning, one due to earlier wounds sustained during Israel's operation "Cast Lead", and the other during a morning attack by the Israeli Air Force, doctors said.

22-year-old Khaled Al Kafarnah was killed on Monday morning when he was hit in the head by shrapnel after an Israeli drone fired a missile at him in the northern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis.

The Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, said that Al Kafarnah and another fighter had clashed with Israeli forces that invaded the area. During the armed clashes, an unmanned Israeli drone fired missiles at them, killing them. The Al Quds Brigades has yet to release the name of the other fighter.

Local sources in Gaza reported that Israeli unmanned drones fired several missiles at a group of people in Khan Younis. Another attack targeted the police station in the nearby town of Beit Lahyia.

Meanwhile, 22-year-old Hassan Shamiyah, was pronounced dead at an Egyptian hospital on Monday morning after succumbing to wounds he sustained two weeks ago.

Local sources said that Shamyiah is a member of the Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, and that he was hit when Israeli drones fired missiles at him two weeks ago in the city of Khan Younis.

Israeli sources said that the morning attacks were in response to home made shells that were fired late on Sunday from Gaza into nearby Israeli areas. Israeli sources reported no damage or injures due to the home made shells.

Elsewhere scores of Israeli settlers attacked farm lands that belong to Palestinian farmers from the village of al-Khadir, near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, on Monday.

The farmers said that the armed Israeli settlers arrived and installed two mobile homes on the farmers' land. This is not the first attack the settlers have carried out in an attempt to annex village lands that are located near the illegal settlement of Efrat, which is built on stolen land from Palestinians.

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 Ghassan Bannoura and George Rishmawi.