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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Thursday, March 3, 2016.
Troops invade West Bank communities and kidnap civilians, meanwhile political detainees go on hunger strike. These stories, and more, coming up, stay tuned.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has reported, Thursday, that Israeli soldiers have kidnapped eighteen Palestinians in various districts if the occupied West Bank, including in Jerusalem. The PPS said the soldiers invaded and searched homes in Burin town, in the northern West Bank district of Nablus, and kidnapped five.
In Tulkarem, in the northern part of the West Bank, the soldiers kidnapped three men. In Jenin, also in the northern part of the West Bank, the soldiers kidnapped four men after searching their homes. Three more civilians were kidnaped from the northern West Bank district of Qalqilia.
In Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, the soldiers kidnapped two young men. In Jericho, the army kidnapped a child. In addition, the soldiers invaded and searched homes in the al-‘Isawiyya town, in occupied Jerusalem, and kidnapped two Palestinians.
In related news, many army vehicles invaded Hizma town, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, and demolished a gas station, belonging to resident Haitham al-Hilo, allegedly for being built without a construction permit.
In other news, at least 46 Palestinian detainees being held at Etzion Israeli military detention facility began an open hunger strike on Thursday, in demand of better living conditions, according to a lawyer for the Palestinian Political Prisoners’ Society- PPS.
the detainees are protesting the quality and quantity of food served to them, in addition to filthy living conditions, inadequate medical treatment and lack of regular access to showers. The PPS reported that some prisoners had not bathed in 15 days.
Rights groups have long criticized Israel for mistreatment of Palestinians in Israeli jails, as well as the illegality of their imprisonment.
Nearly 7,000 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli jails, many of whom face torture, denial of family visitation, and medical negligence.
And that’s all for today from the IMEMC News; this was the Thursday, March 3, 2016, news round-up from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. From more news and updates, please visit our website at www.imemc.org Today’s report has been brought to you by George Rishmawi and me Ghassan Bannoura.
