Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 4 m 0s || 3.66 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday March 18th, 2008.
Unknown gunmen kill a Palestinian man in the West Bank, while an Israeli settler is stabbed in Jerusalem. These stories and more coming up, stay tuned.
The News Cast
Palestinian sources reported that unknown gunmen opened fire at Abed Al Karem Al Abeet, 75, killing him in the village of Bein-Amein, near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia on Tuesday afternoon.
Local sources allege Abeet’s son to be a collaborator with the Israeli army, after he was involved in the death of a Palestinian youth during the first Intifada [Uprising]. Abeet’s son was attacked by Palestinian resistance fighters in the early 1990s but escaped, and is now living in an Israeli controlled area.
An Israeli settler was stabbed on Tuesday morning near Damascus gate in Jerusalem’s old city, eyewitnesses said. Witnesses added that the man, reported to be a rabbi, was walking near the gate when an unknown man stabbed him several times in the neck.
Israeli medical sources stated that the man sustained moderate wounds. Israeli police sources said that an Israeli police officer chased the attacker, but he managed to escape, leaving behind the knife used in the attack. Israeli police sources maintain that the attack was politically motivated.
Also on Tuesday, the Israeli army targeted several areas of the West Bank and kidnapped at least 23 Palestinians, local sources reported. Eyewitnesses stated that most of the kidnappings took place in the cities of Jenin, Qalqilia, Nablus and Tulkarem; as well as operations in Ramallah and Bethlehem.
Among those kidnapped by the army today was Fawaz Khalifah, 48 from Bethlehem city, Khalifah is reported to be a leader in the Islamic Jihad movement.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday at midday, a group of Palestinian resistance fighters escaped an Israeli army ambush in the village of Zababda, located south of Jenin city in the northern West Bank. Palestinian sources said that at least 20 Israeli armored vehicles stormed the village of Zababda on Tuesday morning, surrounding the local mosque. Israeli military figures claimed that Palestinian resistance fighters were hiding inside.
The Islamic Jihad movement announced that the attack on Zababdah targeted a group of their fighters. In a statement faxed to press, the group revealed that their fighters escaped the area long before the army surrounded the mosque.
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 has been brought to you Conscience Londres and Ghassan Bannoura.
