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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Thursday August 21st, 2008.
Nine Palestinian civilians wounded by army fire in Nil’in; in addition Israeli troops kidnap 19 civilians in the West Bank, these stories and more coming up, stay tuned
The News cast
The Israeli army dispersed the weekly nonviolent protest located in Nil’in village southern the West Bank city of Ramallah
A group of internationals and Palestinian peace activists joined in a nonviolent protest against the Israeli killings of civilians as well as the illegal closures and confiscation of lands and property.
Israeli troops attacked the protest by shooting CS gas canisters, rubber-coated steel bullets, and concussion grenades at the protesters. Nine civilians were shot among them four children and dozens reported suffering from gas inhalation, all were transferred to local hospitals.
Also in Nil’in, Israeli infantry invaded the village at dawn, searched and ransacked two houses and kidnapped Said Ameera, 22 and Abdullah Abdel Kareem, 17 and took them to an unknown detention camp.
Eyewitnesses reported that troops dragged the two after binding them with ropes which caused wounds and minor bone fractures.
In a separate, a number of Israeli military vehicles invaded Nablus in the northern part of the West Bank. Troops surrounded the nearby Balata refugee camp and searched and ransacked houses of civilians, as they broke doors and windows leaving drastic damages behind. Troops also kidnapped four civilians and took them to an undisclosed location.
In Bethlehem, troops seized Mothaffar Jawareesh, 20 at an Israeli checkpoint. Troops invaded his residence earlier this week and summoned him for investigation, local sources reported.
Also troops launched a wide-scale search in the west bank city of Jenin. Military vehicles drove through the streets for several hours. Troops searched and ransacked several houses and took prisoner three civilians.
In the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank, troops searched and ransacked several houses in nearby villages kidnapping 7 civilians.
In Tulkarem Israeli soldiers kidnapped one Palestinian and searched a number of houses in the city before they withdrew.
BREAK
The Free Gaza movement, who are set to sail to the Gaza Strip the break the Israeli siege, received the go-ahead from the Cyprian authorities for two boats filled with humanitarian supplies and 60 international activists to set sail Thursday for the Gaza Strip.
The ‘Free Gaza’ movement has been collecting money and supplies since last year to allow the unprecedented blockade-breaking trip to move forward. As the sixty activists gathered in Cyprus two weeks ago, the Israeli government issued statements indicating that the Israeli navy would shoot the boats if they tried to bring the humanitarian aid to Gaza.
In earlier reports, the Israeli minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni responded to a letter of invitation from Free Gaza Movement to welcome the group in Gaza. Although Livni stated in her letter that Israel recognizes that the mission of the two boats is humanitarian, yet Israeli military said they may intercept the boats.
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 by Rula Shahwan and Husam Qassis.
