Palestine Today 060209

A Palestinian man killed by settler in Jerusalem and the army kidnaps 11 civilians across the West Bank. These stories and more coming up, stay tuned.

The News Cast

An Israeli settler shot and killed one Palestinian, on Tuesday at dawn, and seriously wounded a Jewish man near the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. The Israeli police described the attack as a “random shooting spree”.

Police reports said that the shooter claimed that he felt threatened when an “Arab man approached him”, and therefore opened fire at him. He added that he shot and seriously wounded the second man after this man approached him asking for a cigarette.

The settler also opened fire at a third man who managed to escape unharmed. The police said that the settler had no criminal history, and that the gun he used is licensed. The police are currently investigating whether the attacks were a planned shooting spree.

Also on Tuesday one soldier was moderately wounded after he was stabbed by a Palestinian youth at the Huwwara roadblock, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

The stabber, a Palestinian teenager form a village near Nablus, stabbed the soldier in his left shoulder before he was detained and moved to an interrogation center. The army closed the roadblock, while an Israeli ambulance rushed to the scene and evacuated the wounded soldier.

In a separate incident, Israeli military sources reported that Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a settler’s vehicle driving on a settlement road east of Qalqilia, in the northern part of the West Bank. No injuries were reported. The army arrived at the scene of the shooting and initiated a search campaign.

The two incidents in the northern west Bank took place after a series of violent attacks carried out by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinians residents and orchards.

On Monday at dawn, six Palestinian were wounded by settlers’ fire, one of the wounded suffered serious injuries. The settlers also burnt acres of farmlands planted with wheat, barley and olive trees. The settlers carried out their attacks after the Israeli army evacuated an illegal outpost that was installed near a large settlement in the Nablus district.

Meanwhile The Israeli military reports that it detained 13 Palestinians during pre-dawn raids in the West Bank on Tuesday. The men were taken from the areas of Ramallah and Tulkarem to "investigation centers" as Israel claims the men were all wanted.

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.