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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday August 26th, 2008.
The Israeli army continues to invade cities in the West Bank, meanwhile Israeli settlers attack Palestinians in Hebron, these stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.
The News Cast
A number of Israeli soldiers accompanied by at least 12 military vehicles invaded the West bank city of Jenin, soldiers deployed in the streets shooting sound bombs and gunfire at random.
Moreover troops searched and ransacked a farmland causing damages to storage shacks. Troops also setup road blocks at the entrances of the nearby villages. The reason behind this invasion is anonymous and no one was taken prisoner.
In the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Israeli soldiers invaded the nearby Deheishe refugee camp. Soldiers positioned in several neighborhoods and ransacked the residence of Ahmad Tabeh.
In the west Bank city of Hebron a group of Israeli settlers, some of them armed, harassed Palestinian civilians the settlers came from Kiryat Arba’ settlement in the city and in the occupied Al-Jabiri building,
The settlers attacked houses and threw stones and glass bottles at houses, civilians and school children passing in the Al Nasara and Al-Ja’abari neighborhoods.
Settlers also assaulted members of Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), as they were called to document the settlers’ assault, the sources reported.
In a report prepared and published by the Israeli Peace Now group revealed that Israel is currently constructing 2600 housing units for settlers in almost 1000 buildings in several settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The report indicated that 55% of these units are being constructed in the eastern side of the annexation wall, and that they are being built close to Palestinian cities, including Ramallah and Bethlehem.
On a separate issue, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak will meet with the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Alexandria to discuss Egypt’s efforts to broker a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas; as reported by Haaretz newspaper.
The main topics of discussion will include the truce with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Egypt’s role in restricting alleged arms smuggling into Gaza.
Moreover, the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed belief that a peace deal between the Palestinians and the Israelis is possible this year, saying that she does not believe that Israeli government is intentionally expanding settlements in the West Bank.
Rice’s comments come during her visit to the region and meeting with Israeli senior officials.
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.
