Palestine Today 051308

Tuesday May 13, 2008 18:30 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC - Audio Dept.

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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday May 13th 2008.

Rafah crossing closed as the army attack areas in Gaza, while in the West Bank daily invasions and kidnappings by the Israeli troops continues, these stories and more coming up stay tuned.

The News Cast

Egyptian media sources reported that Egyptian authorities shut down the Rafah border crossing, south of Gaza for an unknown destination.

The Egyptian border-police who re-opened the terminal last Saturday for three days to ease the hardship the Palestinians are facing, particularly for those who are immediate need of being medically treated outside the coastal region. The procedures to open the border were implemented based on arrangements made between Hamas and Egypt.

In the first day the borders were opened for seriously sick Palestinians, the second day was for the stranded Palestinian on the Palestinian side and the third day was for the stranded on the Egyptian side of the borders to cross.

In related news, Egyptian security forces declared that they have uncovered five tunnels between Egypt and Gaza allegedly used for weapon smuggling into the Gaza Strip. Egyptian security sources reported that the tunnels were found when Egyptian borders police were patrolling the area.

Also in the Gaza Strip, Israeli army bulldozers, razed an area of around 13 acres in a pre-dawn invasion into the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. Eyewitness reported that Israeli bulldozers devastated large areas of greenhouses that belong to the farmers of the town, adding that the invasion was accompanied by number of Israeli gun-ships flying over the area, which created a state of anxiety among the civilians, fearing air strikes.

In the West Bank today Israeli troops attacked and searched residents' homes in several parts of the West Bank and kidnapped at least five Palestinian civilians.

Two were from a village near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli soldiers invaded the village of Beit Iba near Nablus surrounded a house for several hours then kidnapped two men.

Local sources said that the two kidnapped are said to be Fatah activists.

Also in Nablus, a number of International and Palestinian women riding their bicycles arrived in Nablus in solidarity with the Palestinian People. The group is called, "Follow the Women" and they represent women from a number of western countries.

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 George Rishmawi.

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