Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 35s || 3.28 MB ||

Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Thursday January 10th, 2013.

Four injured in the west Bank by Israeli settlers’ attacks and tunnels collapse in Gaza due to heavy rain. These stories, and more, coming up, stay tuned.

Four Palestinian youth were injured on Thursday as dozens of extremist Israeli settlers attacked, Palestinian villagers enjoying snow in northern West Bank. Local sources reported that settlers attacked a Palestinians playing with snow in Burin village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

At least one resident was injured. Another Palestinian was shot and injured by settlers fire in the nearby village of Qasra, two others were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.Residents reported that Israeli soldiers arrived at the two villages and attacked them with the settlers as well.

Also in northern West Bank on Thursday Israeli soldiers invaded, the villages of Al-Yamoun and Jaba’, broke into and searched several homes, and kidnapped three residents.

Eyewitnesses reported that the army also installed a roadblock at the main entrance of Jaba’ village, searched dozens of vehicles and interrogated the residents. The army kidnapped two Palestinians in the village, and took them to an unknown destination. In the nearby village of Al-Yamoun, the army also broke into and searched several homes, and kidnapped one resident.

In a separate incident today Israeli soldiers violently attacked and arrested several Palestinians playing with snow, in Sheikh Jarrah, in occupied Jerusalem, amidst the current snowfall that is covering nearly every part of Palestine. Extremist settlers, who gathered in the area shouted slogans against the Arabs and the Palestinians.

The clashes took place when a number of extremist Israeli settlers started throwing rocks at the local Palestinian youths who were playing with the snow, and started shouting and cursing at them, while chanting racist slogans against the Arabs and the Muslims.

In the Gaza strip heavy rainfall, that started several days ago, caused the collapse of a number of siege-busting tunnels in Rafah, across the border with Egypt. Egyptian security source stated that “most of the tunnels collapsed due to the rain, and the tunnels that did not collapse, are now completely flooded.”

Moreover trucks that transport the “smuggled goods” on the Palestinian side of the border area could not operate due to the rain, and due to the fact that the tunnels that are still intact, could be dangerous and likely to collapse.

And that’s all for today from the IMEMC News; this was the Thursday January 10th, news round-up from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. For more news and updates please visit our website at www.imemc.org. Today’s report has been brought to you by Hussam Qassis and me, Ghassan Bannoura.