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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Monday, February 9th, 2015.
Israeli settlers uproot Palestinian olive trees in the west Bank and in Gaza Israeli navy attack fishermen. These stories, and more, coming up, stay tuned.
Extremist Israeli settlers cut down over 70 Palestinian olive trees in the southern West Bank district of Hebron on Monday, according to local farmers.
The trees had been planted a week ago in an area threatened with annexation, near the illegal settlement of Metzad, located in the Gush Etzion bloc near Hebron. Locals have organized a campaign to replant the trees.
Eelier on Monday at dawn, Israeli soldiers kidnapped eleven Palestinians in the West Bank, including five teenagers in occupied East Jerusalem, during military invasions targeting Palestinian communities and homes.
In Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire on a march east of Gaza City, on Monday, held in protest of delays to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip following Israel’s devastating military offensive last summer.
Dozens of demonstrators took part in the march, which was organized by a national committee to end the eight-year blockade of the coastal territory. Protesters burned tires and waved Palestinian flags. No injuries were reported, according local news sources.
Also in Gaza on Monday Israeli warplanes carried out mock air raids in a limited incursion over Gaza skies, while Israeli navy gunboats opened fire at fishermen off the Gaza shore.
Local sources said that Israeli F16s flew over the Gaza Strip at low altitude and launched mock raids over the region, in addition to sailing heat balloons into the air, which Israel uses to divert intense anti-aircraft fire.
Loud explosions were heard across the Strip, spreading fear and panic among residents, and particularly children.
Meanwhile, Israeli naval troops targeted fishing boats sailing within the six-nautical miles allowed for fishing. However, no injuries were reported among them. Fishermen were forced to leave the sea for fear of being killed, injured or arrested.
And that’s all for today from the IMEMC News; this was the Monday, February 9th, 2015, news round-up from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. For more news and updates, please visit our website at www.imemc.org. Today’s report has been brought to you by George Rishmawi and me Ghassan Bannoura.
