Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3.66MB || Time 4m 0sWelcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Thursday March 29th, 2007.

Israeli army kills a Palestinian child in the northern West Bank and a man dies of wounds sustained on Wednesday in the Gaza Strip. These stories and more coming up, stay tuned.

The West Bank

Israeli forces invaded the village of Mothalath, near the city of Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank and killed one child on Thursday morning.

A massive Israeli force invaded the village and attacked and searched scores of houses. Israeli soldiers opened fire randomly at residents’ houses and civilians standing on the street.

Medical sources reported that Ahmad Al Assassah, 16, was hit with a live round in the head and died instantly. The sources added another two people were injured. They were known as Ahmad Mahmod, 17, and Shauki Assassah, 20.

Soldiers forced families out of their homes during a house to house search campaign the army conducted in the village. Israeli forces left the village after some time, abducting Ahmad Hussien, 26, and taking him to an unknown detention camp.

The areas of Jenin city, Jenin refugee camp and a nearby village were also targeted on Wednesday. One Palestinian resistance fighter from the Al Aqsa brigades of Fatah was killed during clashes between local resistance fighters and invading Israeli troops in Jenin refugee camp. With Assassah’s death, the number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army in the West Bank since the beginning of this week has risen to three.

Also on Thursday morning, the Israeli army invaded several West Bank areas and abducted al east 15 civilians.

Among those 15 was a Palestinian man on his way to hospital. The Israeli army abducted this man while he was on his way form Tulkarem Refugee camp to the city of Qalqilia in the northern part of the West Bank, to get medical care on Thursday morning.

Isma’el Mir’ie, aged 20, was scheduled to have surgery this afternoon. The ambulance taking him from Tulkarem refugee camp where he lives, to the hospital in Qalqilia city, was stopped by Israeli troops at a military checkpoint. The soldiers forced him out of the vehivle then handcuffed him and took him to an unknown detention camp eyewitnesses reported.

The Gaza Update

A Palestinian man died on Thursday morning of wounds he sustained on Wednesday when a car he was traveling in was targeted by an Israeli army helicopter in the northern Gaza Strip.

Medical sources reported that Ahmad Abu Warda, aged 20, died of wounds he had sustained along with another two people when their car was hit by a missile fired from an Apache helicopter. The car was traveling on a road in Al Sudaniah in the northern part of the Gaza strip on Wednesday afternoon.

The other two casualties still lie in critical conditions in Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Palestinian sources stated that the three are members of Al Qudes Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad.

Israeli media sources reported Israeli army claims that the three were ‘on their way to fire home made shells at Israeli targets’. No shells were found in or near the car, eyewitnesses reported.

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.