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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center www.imemc.org for Tuesday May 4th, 2010.
Israeli troops wound two civilians in Gaza and settlers attack a mosque in the West Bank. These stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.
The News Cast
Israeli troops inured two Palestinian men while protesting at the Erez crossing point in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Ahmad Abu Salaf and Mahmoud Sha’baan were deported to the Gaza Strip last month after Israel enforced the military order number 1650. Both are married to Palestinian women that hold Israeli citizenship.
The order 1650, effective last month, gives the Israeli military almost full control to detain and deport anyone in the West Bank who does not have permission from Israel to live in the West Bank.
This includes tens of thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, and those who returned to the West Bank and decided to stay or Gazans who are married to an Israeli Arab and lives in Israel. The order also includes non-Palestinians who are married to Palestinian citizens but do not have Israel’s approval to stay in the West Bank.
Also on Tuesday Israeli tanks shelled residential areas near Gaza City and farm lands close to the fence, surrounding the Gaza Strip, causing damage to the property but no injuries. Earlier today Israeli tanks and bulldozers invaded farm lands near Rafah city, southern Gaza Strip. The forces left shortly after, but damaged the crops, local sources reported.
Elsewhere, A group of Israeli settlers set on fire the mosque of Al Luban village, northern West Bank, on Tuesday at dawn.
The Sheikh of the mosque said that he came on to open the mosque for the dawn prayers when he noticed the fire. Residents gathered and tried to put the fire away and called the firefighters from the nearby city of Nablus. The fire destroyed almost 60% of the mosque, according to the sheikh. Residents believe settlers from the nearby Malayh Levona settlement have deliberately caused the fire.
Palestinian officials from the religious affairs arrived at the village to show support for the villages and to observe the damage. Israeli military officers also came to the village and took samples from the mosque to investigate the incident. Earlier this year settlers set a mosque in southern West Bank village. The Israeli police arrested a dozen settlers in connection to the attack; six were found guilty.
In other news, The Israeli military invaded on Tuesday at dawn the southern West Bank city of Hebron and nearby villages. Troops also handed out a number of demolishing orders to farmers in the area.
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 Ghassan Bannoura.
