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Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre www.imemc.org for Wednesday August 30th, 2006
Four civilians were killed and another eight were injured today by heavy machine gun fire from Israeli tanks in an going military operation east of the Gaza strip while in the West Bank, a leader of the armed resistance group died from of sustained injuries, those stories and more coming up, so stay tuned.
The Gaza Update
Palestinian medical sources reported on Wednesday morning that four civilians were killed and another eight were injured by heavy machine gun fire from Israeli tanks in AL Shija'ya area, east of the Gaza strip. Dr. Muawiyeh Hassanein, the Director of the Emergency and Ambulance Department in the Palestinian Ministry of Health, reported that the four were identified as Rami Al Gharabli, Ziead Al Gharabli, Ra'ed Sabitah, and Mohamed Jendiah.
Dr. Hassanein added that eight residents were injured, due to the intense and violent shelling which targeted civilian homes whereby ambulances and medics could not get to the injured people. Israeli tanks and war plans are still heavily shelling the area, according to local sources. The death toll, including the four killed in the Gaza strip since Saturday, reached 17 residents, 13 of them civilians.
Israeli soldiers killed on Tuesday one resident during the night in Beit Lahia town, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The latest casualty raises the number of residents killed on Tuesday in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to seven.
Dr. Moawiya Hasanein, reported that the resident was identified as Husam Nafeth Abu Rokba, 24, from the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Abu Rokba was near the evacuated settlement of Doughit. He was hit by shell shrapnel in several parts of his body. Three residents were killed in an Israeli air strike in Al Shujaeyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City.
The West Bank Update
After surviving an Israeli assassination attempt in the northern West Bank, a leader of the armed resistance arrived in the Jordanian capital of Amman Tuesday night. Saraya Al Quds issued a statement today revealing that in the morning, 35 year old Hussam Jaradat had died of the injuries he sustained. Jaradat was the West Bank leader of Saraya Al Quds, an armed resistance wing affiliated with Islamic Jihad.
Speaking on behalf of Islamic Jihad, Mahmoud Al Sa’adi said that Jaradat's condition had continued to deteriorate since Israeli forces shot him in an assassination attempt in Jenin Refugee Camp last Wednesday. Due in part to the efforts of Palestinian medical professionals, Jaradat's trip to Jordan was coordinated with several parties, including the International Red Cross.
A Palestinian Red Crescent Ambulance brought him to the West Bank border crossing with Jordan. Israeli forces controlling the border detained Jaradat and the ambulance exchange for several hours, despite the fact that he was given international travel permission and protection. He arrived at an Amman hospital on Tuesday night. Medical sources said that he was in critical condition with bullet wounds in his head, as reported by Al Sa'adi. However, the injures proved too severe and Hussam Jaradat died Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile Israeli troops invaded Habla village south of the West Bank city of Qalqilia and took one prisoner on Wednesday. Khalid Ramadan, 30, was taken to an unknown destination, after soldiers searched his house and confiscated his tractor, eyewitnesses reported.
Also On Wednesday a group of right wing Jewish settlers from the illegal settlement of Sousa uprooted large numbers of olive trees that belonged to Palestinian farmers from the nearby village of Yatta ,south of the West Bank city of Hebron.
Local sources reported that settlers uprooted trees located near an Israeli army post just outside the village. Settlers have repeatedly targeted the residents, their property and farmlands in addition to attacking the international volunteers who come to the area to help the people and act as observers.
Conclusion
Thank you for joining us from Occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org brought to you by James Brown & Ghassan Bannoura.
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