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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday December 13, 2011
Settlers launch several attacks against Israeli military and Palestinians across the West Bank, and four homes are demolished in the nearby Bethlehem area, these stories and more coming up; so stay tuned.
Extremist right-wing Israeli settlers broke into a closed-off military zone in between the West Bank and the Jordanian border, at the site thought to be where Jesus was baptized.
The protesters say they are sending a message to the Jordanian government to stay out of Israeli affairs. This is a reference to the statement made by Jordan’s King Abdullah on Monday that he hoped Israel would choose not to demolish a bridge in Jerusalem.
The attack occurred at the Jordan River, on a closed military zone separating the West Bank and the Jordanian border, and both Jordanian Authorities and the Israeli Army have stated that the Israelis did not cross the border, but were approximately only a few hundred metres away.
In other settler news, approximately 50 extremists from the Hilltop Youth Group staged multiple attacks on Israeli military and Palestinians alike. They broke into the Efraim Regional Brigades military barracks near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails. Several fires were started and numerous vehicles were damaged.
A group also stoned military vehicles, injuring the Brigade Commander- who received a stone to the head, and several of his men.
The same group, comprising around a hundred settlers also attacked Palestinian cars travelling on the main road near the settlement of Ramat Gilad.
The string of attacks comes as tension mounts over the impending dismantlement of numerous illegal outposts within the West Bank by the Israeli authorities. The settlers in question claim that Israeli Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, is responsible for the escalation, and claimed that Barak Quote- “discriminates against the settlers and their settlements.” –Unquote.
In other news, Israeli troops arrived in the town of village of Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, and proceeded to demolish four homes belonging to local Palestinians. The residents have been prevented from entering their lands in the area, since the homes are located near the tunnel building to link Jerusalem with the Kfar Etzion settlement block. They claim they received no demolition notices or orders from the so-called Civil Administration.
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported, Tuesday, that two Palestinians, including one child, were injured after the Israeli army invaded an area east of the al-Boreij refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip.
The Higher Committee of Medical and Emergency Services In Gaza reported that a 48 year-old man, and a 14 year-old child, suffered moderate injuries and were moved to the al-Aqsa Hospital in Dir al-Balah.
That’s all for today from the IMEMC News, this was the Tuesday December 13 daily roundup of news from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We hope you will join us again tomorrow. This was brought to you by George Rishmawi, and me, William Gibson.
