Copy and paste the link in your browser or media player to play or download MP3 file || http://portland.indymedia.org/media/media/2007/01/353083.mp3 || 4.6 MB || 5m : 0sPalestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday 30th of January 2007.
Two were killed in Gaza, and a weak ceasefire between Hamas and Fatah goes into effect, while the Israeli army abducts 23 Palestinian men from the northern part of the West Bank. These stories and more coming, up stay tuned.
The Gaza Update
Palestinian medical sources reported that a Palestinian security officer of the 17 Force, a Fatah affiliated force, died on Tuesday morning. His death was a result of wounds he sustained on Monday during the Hamas-Fatah infighting in Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza strip.
Sources in Nasser hospital reported that Atief Al Najar, 43, died due to wounds in the legs and groin. Sources in Khan Younis reported that Al Najar was shot by troops from the executive force, a Hamas affiliated force.
On Monday at least seven Palestinians were killed during internal clashes between the two rival parties Fatah and Hamas, bringing the death toll due to infighting since Thursday to at least 35.
A cease-fire agreement between Hamas and Fateh was reached on Tuesday at dawn. The two movements agreed to withdraw all gunmen from the streets, and to release all abductees.
The cease-fire agreement was announced in a press release in Gaza in the presence of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya, Rawhi Fattouh, representing the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Egyptian delegates.
Early on Tuesday morning, the Israel Air Force attacked a tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip near the Karni crossing. The army said it was designed to transport Palestinian militants into Israel to carry out an imminent attack.
Security officials said secondary explosions were seen after the air strike, indicating that there were explosives in the tunnel. Aides of the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday that he plans to maintain the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, and will not respond to Monday\’s suicide bombing in Eilat with a broad military offensive.
IMEMC spoke to Fawzi Barhoum, the spokesman of Hamas in the Gaza strip. He stated that apparently some groups of Fateh are not committed to the political leadership commands of the Fateh movement, and are still acting on an individual basis.
Barhoum added that Hamas still commits to the ceasefire agreement that was reached on Tuesday. IMEMC correspondent in Gaza stated that despite the cease-fire, gunmen are still present on the streets of Gaza.
The West Bank Update
A large Israeli army force invaded the village of Kufer Kalil near the northern West Bank city of Nablus and abducted 23 Palestinian men on Tuesday morning. Palestinian sources in the village stated that troops and army vehicles entered the village in the dawn hours, and started a wide scale house-to-house search campaign.
Soldiers forced families out while searching and ransacking their homes, eyewitnesses reported. During this campaign Israeli forces abducted 23 men from the village. Among those abducted were Sae\’d Amer, Bilal Mansur and three of his brothers, Murad, Jawad and Iyad.
Israeli soldiers left the village and took all 23 men to an unknown military detention camp. Israeli army sources claimed that all 23 were Fatah and Hamas activists, a claim that was not verified by a Palestinian source.
In the southern West Bank, Israeli troops invaded the villages of Yatta and Al Samo\’a near the city of Hebron on Tuesday morning and abducted one Palestinian man.
Ali Mur, 40, was abducted from his home in Yatta village by Israeli troops after they ransacked and searched his house, which is located in the village center. Soldiers also searched and ransacked houses in Al Samo\’a village, and issued military orders to several men in the village for interviews at the Shin Bet Israeli secret service office located in the nearby Kufar Atzion military post.
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, brought to you by Polly Bangoriad and Ghassan Bannoura.
