Palestine Today 081709

In the news today, a Gaza man dies due to the Israeli siege and settlers take over a Palestinian home in Jerusalem, these stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.

The News Cast

A Palestinian man was reported dead on Monday after he was unable to leave the Gaza Strip for the life saving medical care he needed.

44 year old Umar Al Sha'er had kidney failure. The man needed medical care outside the Gaza Strip because doctors in Gaza did not have the medical equipments to save his life.

Doctors say the siege that Israel enforced on the Gaza Strip since June 2007 has left Gaza’s hospitals unable to treat severe cases.

Al Sha'er had all the needed documents to leave Gaza but the Israeli military kept stalling his request until he was announced dead on Monday, his family reported.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the number of patients who died because of the Israeli siege has now reached 344.

Elsewhere a group of armed Israeli settlers took over a Palestinian owned house near the old city of Jerusalem.

The home is located in the Palestinian dominated Silwan neighborhood and close to a UN run school for Palestinian refugees.

Local sources reported that with this new settler post, there are now 40 settler posts inside the Silwan neighborhood.

According to international law all settlements in the occupied Palestinians territories including East Jerusalem are illegal.

In other news An Egyptian soldier was critically injured on Monday as his unit clashed with Israeli troops at the Egyptian-Israeli borders.

Israeli media sources said that the Israeli troops were conducting a routine check at the borders when they spotted movement.

The Israeli soldiers opened fire in the air. Egyptian soldiers from nearby post responded to the fire, Israeli soldiers reported. The clashes that lasted for few minutes left one Egyptian soldier critically injured. No injuries among Israeli soldiers were reported.

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.