Palestine Today 042209

Four people have been injured in Gaza by unexploded Israeli bomb and in the West Bank eight civilians are kidnapped by the military; these stories and more coming up stay tuned.

The News Cast

Four Palestinian civilians were injured on Wednesday at midday when an explosion occurred in a market place in Gaza city. Medics reported that all four were taken to a nearby hospital after sustaining moderate wounds. The Palestinian ministry of health reported that an unexploded Israeli bomb left over from January,s Cast lead Operation caused the explosion.

In other news, the Israeli army demolished four homes belonging to Palestinian farmers in the village Akraba near the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Witnesses said that troops invaded the village in the morning and surrounded the four homes. Later bulldozers arrived and razed them to the ground. The farmers said that soldiers also damaged property nearby.

On Tuesday the Israeli military ordered eight families from the village to leave. The homes of four of them have now been demolished. The army says the homes are too close to the nearby settlement of Mokhier.

In Jerusalem the Israeli police demolished a Palestinian-owned home in the Jabbal Al Mukaber neighborhood just outside Jerusalem’s old city. The house belongs to Ammar Ehdaden and is home to seven people. Jabbal Al Mukaber is a Palestinian dominated area of Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Jerusalem municipality pressed charges against a Palestinian woman who owns a house inside Jerusalem,s old city. The court says Taliah Al Salayma added a new room to the house without permission, and had been in contempt of the court when she refused to remove it.

Since Israeli occupied the city of Jerusalem in 1967, it has rarely given Palestinians permissions to build homes or to renovate them..

The Israeli military invaded a number of West Bank communities on Wednesday and kidnapped eight civilians. The army radio announced that all those kidnapped were men and that they have been taken to military detention facilities for questioning.

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 Dave Thomson.