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 Wednesday April 4th, 2007.
The Israeli army kills one Palestinian man in the northern Gaza strip and injures another in the West Bank, these stories and more coming up, stay tuned.
The Gaza strip Update
On Wednesday, an Israeli army undercover unit shot and killed a Palestinian resident and abducted another in eastern Beit Hanoun, to the north of Gaza. Palestinian medical sources said that Ramez Alz’aneen was killed, three others were wounded and a fifth was abducted when an Israeli army special undercover unit incurred into Beit Hanoun under a barrage of heavy gun fire.
Witnesses told IMEMC that those hit by the Israeli army were local Palestinian farmers, who had been bending down in labor on their farmland. Witnesses said that the Israeli army armored vehicles have been stationed on the border with Israel in northern Gaza.
Such a development comes amidst Israeli army warnings of possible large-scale attacks on the Gaza Strip, under the pretext of cracking down on Palestinian resistance groups that continue to fire homemade rockets on nearby Israeli towns.
In the meantime, dozens of Palestinian journalists and intellectuals in Gaza on Wednesday, blocked a session of the Palestinian legislative council in Gaza’s building of the PLC, to protest at the Palestinian government’s inaction to secure the release of Alan Johnston, the veteran BBC correspondent, kidnapped in Gaza three weeks ago.
Unknown gunmen in Gaza abducted Johnston on March12, while he was driving in Gaza city. The abduction of Johnston is the longest captivity endured by a foreign journalist in Gaza, as nobody has claimed responsibility and no information has been released so far.
The West Bank Update
One Palestinian civilian was shot and injured when Israeli troops stationed at Huwara checkpoint, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, opened fire at Palestinian civilians crossing the checkpoint on Wednesday, during midday.
Israeli soldiers opened fire at a Palestinian civilian car crossing the checkpoint critically wounding the driver Shawki Al Rojbi, eyewitnesses reported. The eyewitnesses added that soldiers were stopping and searching cars going in or out of Nablus. Troops ordered Al Rojbi to stop his car, when he did not stop the soldiers showered the car with rounds of live ammunition and injured him.
Soldiers forced people stranded at the checkpoint away, then abducted the injured man in an army vehicle and took him to an unknown location. Troops also closed the checkpoint for one hour.
The Israeli army invaded the northern West Bank city of Jenin and Jenin refugee camp. Clashes erupted between local resistance fighters and the invading troops; one civilian was abducted by the army, on Wednesday at dawn.
A massive Israeli army force stormed the city and the nearby refugee camp, as soldiers searched and ransacked scores of residents homes. A man whose name remains unknown was walking in the street in down town Jenin city, when soldiers stooped the man and abducted him, eyewitnesses reported.
In Jenin refugee camp a group of local resistance fighters clashed with the invading Israeli force, during the clashes the Israeli reported that one Israeli soldier was lightly injured and rushed to a hospital in Israel.
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 Jane Smith and Ghassan Bannoura.
