Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| File 3.67 MB || Time 4m 0s || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday January 22nd, 2008.
As Israeli continues to siege Gaza, Palestinian women protest at Rafah crossing, while in the West Bank the Israeli army kidnaps 16 civilians, these stories and more coming up stay tuned.
The News Cast
Palestinian medical sources reported that a Palestinian man died on Tuesday morning due to wounds he sustained in Israeli army attacks on Sunday. The Islamic Jihad armed wing, Al Qudes Brigades, stated that the man who died on Tuesday is a member of the brigades and named him as Mohamed Al Ghandor.
Al Ghandor sustained critical wounds on Sunday when Israeli jet fighters fired several missiles at a group of Palestinians in Beit Lahyia town in the northern part of the Gaza strip. Last week the Israeli Army attacks on Gaza left 37 Palestinians dead and at least 70 others injured. Meanwhile on Tuesday morning, Israeli navel boats opened fire at Palestinian fishermen in the southern Gaza strip town of Rafah, Israeli troops then took over the Fishing boats and kidnapped a number of Palestinian fishermen and took them to an unknown location, eyewitnesses reported.
Scores of Palestinian women gathered on Tuesday at the Rafah crossing located between Egypt and the Gaza strip and protested the continued siege on Gaza. Egyptian police and troops attacked the protest using water canon and batons, medical sources reported that at least 20 women suffered injures so far and had to be moved to hospitals inside the Gaza.
The Rafah crossing, located in the southern side of the Gaza strip, is the only way for Palestinians to leave or enter the region, sine June 2007, the crossing was completely closed by the Israeli and Egyptian troops.
On Thursday last week, the Israeli government decided to keep pressure on the Gaza Strip by further attacking Palestinian resistance groups. On Friday Israel declared all Gaza’s crossings completely closed, with a total ban of fuel and supplies to the coastal region. By Sunday Gaza had no electricity since the Solo Gaza power plant depend on Israeli Fuel.
After a widespread international outcry following Israel cutting off of all fuel into Gaza, that left Gaza without electricity, the Israeli authorities agreed to allow fuel and medicine into the Palestinian coastal region on Tuesday for one day only.
Israeli government sources stated on Tuesday that the latest fuel shipment Israel allowed into the Gaza strip is an attempt to sabotage any Security Council condemnation of the siege imposed on the Gaza strip by Israel. Arab states that have representation in the UN Security Council called of an emergency session on Tuesday in an attempt to win UN Security Council condemnation of the Israeli siege on the Gaza strip.
In the West Bank on Tuesday the Israeli army invaded several cities and towns and kidnapped 16 Palestinian civilians, 14 of those kidnapped were taken from the northern West Bank city of Nablus and nearby villages.
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. This report brought to you by Caroline Johns and Ghassan Bannoura.
