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Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre imemc.org for Thursday September 14th, 2006
One Palestinian was killed in the latest Israeli invasion of southern Gaza; while in the West Bank the army has continued to take prisoners and attack resident's houses these stories and more coming up stay tuned.
The Gaza Update
Early Thursday morning, dozens of tanks and armored vehicles rolled into Gaza, south of Sufa Crossing, killing one man and damaging a number of homes, eyewitnesses reported. Iyad Abu Mour, 28, was killed by multiple gunshot wounds from Israeli gunfire, and was dead before he reached the hospital. He was not identified as a resistance fighter, but as a civilian. No resistance was noted against the Israeli invasion, local sources reported.
The death of Abu Mour adds to over 250 Palestinians, including 55 children, who have been killed since June in the ongoing military offensive in Gaza code named 'Operation Summer Rain'. The families of those killed have no way of seeking justice or compensation for the deaths of their loved ones, as Palestinians have no rights in Israeli courts.
Israeli forces remain in the area, having occupied at least five Palestinian homes converting them into military bases to monitor Palestinian activities on the ground. Snipers are present on each of the occupied rooftops, and the families who own the homes have each been forced into one room under gunpoint. Israeli forces frequently occupy Palestinian homes during invasions and turn them into military bases either temporarily or permanently. The families whose homes are occupied have no legal recourse to take against the Israeli army.
The West Bank Update
The Israeli army took eight prisoners from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, among them two officials, on Thursday. Troops and army jeeps stormed the city from the western side, at dawn, then moved to the city center where they conducted a wide scale search campaign. The detainees were known as Hassan Safi, 49, the director of the Islamic Waqf in the city, Saleh Shoka, 43, a Bethlehem municipality council member, Ahmad Al Shurof, 58, Nader Zawahra, 44, Mohamed Al Ramlawi, 28, and Waled Al Bostanji, 24. All were taken to unknown locations.
Later during the day Ghassan Hermas, a lecturer at Al Quds Open Uuniversity was taken prisoner by Israeli troops from his house located in the city of Bethlehem. Soldiers invaded Jamal Abdul-Nasser neighborhood in the city, broke into the house of Hermas and searched it before taking him prisoner.
On Thursday afternoon, Eyad Habib, 33, was taken prisoner by Israeli forces that invaded the town of Doha, west of Bethlehem. Troops invaded the town, surrounded an internet coffee shop, and then took Habib to an unknown location.
Meanwhile Ibrahim Naghnigha, 25, was taken prisoner by invading Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Jenin on Thursday at dawn. More than 20 army vehicles and troops stormed the city and conducted a wide scale search campaign of resident's houses and ransacked their belongings, before taking Naghnigha to an unknown location.
Local sources reported that Naghnigha is a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, and has been on the Israeli army 'wanted' list for two years.
Also on Thursday morning, Israeli soldiers attacked and ransacked scores of houses in the West Bank city of Hebron. In addition to this, troops also stormed and ransacked houses in the nearby villages of Halhoul, Al Thahriyya and Tafouha. In addition to this, an Israeli army plane dropped paratroopers near Beit Al Rish village south of Hebron.
Finally the Israeli army invaded the village of Marda north of the West Bank city of Salfit on Thursday. Troops attacked and ransacked several houses causing a state of panic among children, eyewitnesses reported.
Conclusion
Thank you for joining us from Occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today of the International Middle East Media Centre, imemc.org brought to you by Dina Awwad, James Brown & Ghassan Bannoura.
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