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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www.imemc.org for Thursday April 22nd, 2010.
Troops detain civilians from the West Bank and tanks invade areas in the Gaza Strip, These stories and more are coming up, stay tuned.
The News Cast
Two Palestinian civilians were injured and one international peace activist was detained on Thursday while protesting against the construction of the wall in the town of Beit Jala near Bethlehem southern West Bank.
Home-owners along with Israeli and international supporters gathered to stop Israeli military bulldozers from cutting down olive trees to make way for the Wall.
Israeli military bulldozers resumed work on Thursday at this location ignoring Israeli court rulings. Media sources said that Israeli soldiers accompanying the bulldozers attacked the protestors using batons injuring two locals and detained one international supporter.
Israel announced its plans for this section of the wall back in 2006. Residents and the Municipality of Beit Jala went to court to challenge the legality of the wall and were still waiting for a decision when the construction started last month. The lawyer managed to obtain a court ruling to halt the work two weeks ago pending a final a court ruling.
The new section of the wall in Beit Jala will annex a nearby settler-only road and destroy around 75 acres of land owned by Palestinian residents. The wall will pass right through the front door of 35 families and destroy olive trees dating back to the Roman Era.
In other news, Najeeb Qawasmeh from Jenin, northern West Bank, sustained light wounds after soldiers attacked him while on his way to work, Thursday morning, local sources reported. Earlier, in the morning, fifteen Palestinian civilians were detained by Israeli troops during military invasions targeting West Bank communities.
Elsewhere Israeli tanks and bulldozers stormed on Thursday the village of Abassan Al Kubra in southern Gaza Strip and destroyed farm lands. Witnesses told local media that tanks opened fire at residents’ homes as bulldozers uprooted trees and destroyed farm lands owned by local farmers.
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.
