Palestine Today 021609

Two Palestinians reported killed in Gaza, while the Israeli military kidnaps 34 civilians from the West Bank, these stories and more coming up stay tuned.

The News Cast

A mysterious blast ripped through the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahya, leaving one dead and four others injured Monday at dawn, according to Palestinian medical sources.

Sources at the Kamal Edwan Hospital confirmed that Rajab Sobeh, age 25, was killed and four others injured in the blast, two critically. The motivation behind the blast is unclear.

Meanwhile, Palestinian medics announced that Ali Alqedra, a Palestinian resident from Khan Younis, died of wounds he sustained last Friday, after Israeli warplanes targeted the city. The Popular Resistance Committees mourned the dead as he was one of its fighters. Alqedra was hit while driving his motorcycle.

Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, Israeli jet fighter attacked areas in the city of Rafah on Monday near the border with Egypt. Palestinian sources said that the attack targeted open areas and left no damage or injuries.

The Israeli military said that the attack targeted underground tunnels that they claimed are being used to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip, adding that it was in response to the two homemade shells fired from Gaza into nearby Israeli areas.

Al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced on Monday morning that they fired two homemade shells at the Negev region. Israeli sources said that the two shells landed in open areas causing no damage or injuries.

In the West Bank, at least 30 Palestinian civilians were kidnapped by Israeli troops during morning invasions targeting towns and villages near the central city of Ramallah on Monday, Palestinian sources reported. Meanwhile the Israeli military kidnapped four Palestinian civilians during pre-dawn invasions targeting the northern part of the West Bank on Monday.

Also in the news today, the Israeli army decided to confiscate 425 Acres of lands owned by Palestinians farmers to be used to expand a settlement near the city of Bethlehem. The farmers filed appeals several months ago to the Israeli court, which dismissed eight and accepted one, deciding to allow the construction of 2,500 new homes for settlers of Efrat settlement.

Efrat is home to 9,000 Israeli settlers, and is part of the Gush Etzion settlement block which is the largest illegal settlement bloc in the southern 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 Ghassan Bannoura and George Rishmawi.