Palestine Today 09 07 2011

One killed in Gaza shelling and Israeli settlers vandalize an Israeli military base, these stories and more coming, stay tuned.

One resident was killed and four others were injured on Tuesday evening, when the army bombarded an area east of Al Qarara, in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, The Palestine News and Info Agency, WAFA, reported.

The slain resident was identified as Khaled Abu Samhoud, 22; his body and the four wounded residents were moved to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Furthermore, three military bulldozers and five tanks invaded the nearby Al Qarara area and bulldozed farmlands while firing at random. The invasion came shortly after Israeli choppers opened fire into the area.

The Arab League called on Wednesday for instating a comprehensive and serious popular and official boycott of Israel due to its ongoing violations, and stances that obstruct peace talks.

Mohammed Sbeih, assistant secretary-general for Palestine and the Occupied Territories at the Arab League, stated "what is needed is a clear and direct aim that all Arab countries must abide by, and implement".

He added “Boycott is our main goal, and we are committed to what we agree on in order to reflect a real determination which could be carried out on the ground”,

In other news, Michel Besson, director of the "Andines" Cooperative, which develops Fair Trade cooperation with Palestine, was arrested Monday morning on his arrival at the airport in Tel Aviv and was placed in the retention center.

Besson is denied entry to Palestine and is awaiting deportation, according to his lawyer Gabi Laski. Laski added that if Besson decides to fight deportation he will have to wait a few weeks in jail before he can get a trial.

On July 8, Israeli authorities deported over 150 internationals who arrived at Tel Aviv airport and declared their intention to visit Palestine, as part of the Welcome to Palestine campaign.

The Yesha Council of Settlements, the central body representing Israeli settlers in the West Bank, condemned the "price tag" operation carried out by a group of Israeli settlers at an Israeli Military base on Wednesday.

The council called on the government to crack down on what they called "marginal group".

Israeli sources reported earlier Wednesday that unknown perpetrators infiltrated a base in the Binyamin region, managed to sneak their way into the mechanics workshop on site, where they slashed the tires and cut the cables of 13 military vehicles.

Haaretz said on its online edition, that this was the first "price tag" act extremist settlers have implemented against the army since adopting their policy of seeking retribution to exact for any curb on Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

According to Haaretz, settlers sprayed the word “price tag” on the walls and painted graffiti related to the structures the military demolished in Migron illegal outpost near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Since the destruction of these structures, settlers have carried out a number of assaults against Palestinians, including torching a mosque near Nablus and assaulting Palestinian pedlars near Hebron.

That was some of the news from Palestine Today, for more updates, please visit our website at www.imemc.org. Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. This report has been brought to you by Hussam Qassis and me, George Rishmawi.