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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday, January 26th, 2010.
The Palestinian Authority reaffirm that they will not resume peace talks with Israel until settlement construction halts. Also, more kidnapping has occurred throughout the West Bank. These stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.
The News Cast
In the last 3 days, the Israeli military has detained 17 civilians in the West Bank. These incidents have occurred in the old city of Hebron, and in villages outside of Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron.
The arrests have taken place in homes, and near the Al-Zayyim roadblock. In all cases there have been reports of destruction of property or assaults by the Israeli military.
In Burin, a village South of Nablus in the West Bank, the Israeli military delivered orders to the Salman Al-Farisi mosque, demanding that they halt construction immediately.
Palestinian official Ghassan Douglas, who holds files on Israeli settlement construction, stated that these orders contravene international law.
Also, in the village of Dir Nitham, near Ramallah, residents of the illegal settlement of Halmish uprooted 15 olive trees. The attack is one of a series carried out by the settlers who are trying to annex land for settlement expansion.
In other news, Dr. Ahmad Yousef, advisor to the Palestinian Foreign Ministry in Gaza, stated that the Israeli occupation deliberately tries to humiliate international figures and legislators who attempt to visit the Gaza Strip. He added that Israel’s behavior towards Belgian Development Minister, Charles Michel, preventing him from entering Gaza, is another Israeli violation of international law.
Yousef went on to say that the occupation believes that allowing international figures into the Gaza Strip would expose its violations in Gaza, especially since it is trying to claim that the Hamas movement is fabricating the suffering of the residents, living under siege and ongoing attacks.
In addition, The head of Fatah’s international relations bureau, Dr. Nabeel Sha’ath, announced, on Tuesday, that his movement will not resume talks with the Israeli government until they stop settlement construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in all forms.
Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, reaffirmed this position to US peace envoy George Mitchell on Sunday. Abbas stated that there would be no peace negotiations with Israel until the government stops all settlement activities.
Dr. Sha’ath told reporters today that the Israeli leader’s media campaign against president Abbas proves that Israel does not want peace, or the resumption of talks with the Palestinians. He added that the President will not be intimidated by the Israeli threats.
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 Walter Jones.
