Palestinian security sources said a number of Israeli military vehicles invaded the village of Tiqua near Bethlehem and searched a number of houses and kidnapped five youth from Al-Sabah family.
The residents said their village is under a regular wave of nightly invasions during which Israeli soldiers break into houses, ransack them and kidnap youth. Israeli troops also kidnapped two others from Ramallah, however, their names were not identified.
In Jerusalem, Israeli soldiers kidnapped five Palestinian children from Al-Suwwana area near the old city.
Local sources said one of the kidnapped youth is son of a senior Fatah leader in Jerusalem. The five high school students were handcuffed and taken to an Israeli police station in West Jerusalem.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials expressed disappointment over Israel’s decision to continue to ban medical supplies to enter the costal region.
Raed Fattouh, head of the committee in charge of the entry of goods into the Gaza Strip, stated that since mid October 2009 until this day, Israel has been obstructing the entry of all medical equipment and medications transferred from the West Bank to Gaza.
Among the urgently needed equipment are CT scan machines, incubators and their equipment, heart machines and dialysis equipment.
Israel imposes a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip since June of 2006, which was tightened in June 2007, after Hamas took control over Gaza Strip following a bloody fight with its rival Fatah party.
Around 300 Palestinians lost their lives in the Gaza Strip due to lack of medical supplies and restriction of movement of the Gaza residents to Egypt for medical treatment.
In the meantime, Israeli security sources reported Wednesday that a homemade shell was fired from the Gaza Strip. The source added that the shell landed near School in the Western Negev, causing no damage or injuries.
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, George Rishmawi.