Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || File 3.67 MB || Time 4m 0s || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Monday January 28th, 2008.
The Israeli army kill one Palestinian, and Kidnaps 10 others in several parts of the West Bank and has allowed fuel into Gaza, these stories and more coming up stay tuned.
The News Cast
One Palestinian was killed and another three injured when Israeli army forces invaded the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem on Monday afternoon, and clashed with local youths. Local sources told IMEMC that Israeli troops surrounded a house located in the southern part of Bethlehem city in an attempt to kidnap what the army calls ‘wanted Palestinians’.
Eyewitnesses told IMEMC that the Israeli troops forced journalists into a nearby house and did not allow them to document the attack. In other West Bank areas the Israeli army attacked Hebron and Nablus cities today and kidnapped 10 Palestinian civilians there at dawn.
In Gaza meanwhile, The Israeli army today allowed a shipment of fuel to enter the Gaza strip to be used in the production of electricity.
The move came after Israeli and Palestinian human right groups filed a petitioned to the Israeli High Court of Justice against the Israeli governments decision two weeks ago to stop fuel supplies to Gaza, which left the Palestinian coastal region, the home of 1.5 million Palestinians without electricity. Gazas sole power plant depends on fuel to supply the region with electricity. Kan’an Obed vice president of the Power Authority in Gaza told IMEMC that the plant needs 450, 000 litres of fuel to operate to the maximum capacity.
The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, one of the organizations that filed the petition on Sunday stated that the Israeli high court of Justice allowed only 350, 000 litres of fuel that is to be used to generate power to enter the Gaza strip.
Gazans still face shortages in cooking gas and car fuel. Obed added that the amount of fuel allowed in Gaza is barely enough and its being sent in daily basis which means the Palestinian power plant cant stock fuel, therefore if the Israeli army stop shipments of fuel entering Gaza, the power plant will not be apple to proved the coastal region with electricity.
On Monday Palestinian security forces of Hamas and Egyptian troops started to close the Rafah borders to civilian cars allowing only trucks to pass through the borders. Palestinians breached the borders using a bulldozer and home made bombs five days ago after Israel announced total siege on Gaza two weeks ago.
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 brought to you by Caroline Jones and Ghassan Bannoura.
