The Palestinian reconciliation is delayed until further notice as a result of delaying the Goldstone Report, and Israeli soldiers fire tear gas at a Palestinian School near Hebron, These stories and more coming up stay tuned.

The News cast

Israeli soldiers fired a number of tear gas canisters at a school in the village of Tarrama near the southern West Bank city of Hebron Thursday morning.

According to local sources, a number of students choked as they inhaled the gas in their classrooms and had to evacuate the school to avoid inhaling more gas.

The Maan News Agency reported that the Israeli army denied any action for the military that involves tear gas during the past 24 hours.

The students were treated for shock and gas inhalation at a local clinic.

Moreover, clashes erupted between stone-throwing youth and the Israeli troops stationed at the military checkpoint separating Jerusalem from Ramallah. The clashes caused a traffic jam., however no injuries or arrests were reported.

In the meantime, the delay of Goldstone Report on the Israeli War on Gaza had its repercussions on the intra-Palestinian talks for reconciliation.

Hamas has asked the Egyptian mediators to freeze the process until further notice. Fatah and Hamas were supposed to sign a reconciliation document by the end of the next month.

The presentation of the Goldstone special report was delayed to the next session of the United Nations' Council of Human Rights in April 2010 upon request by the Palestinian Authority represented By Pakistan, a decision that created a lot of criticism against the intentions of the Palestinian Authority behind this request.

Back to the situation on the ground, an Israeli court indicted an Israeli Border policeman of allowing some young Palestinian men to enter Jerusalem without the regular check, Israeli newspaper Yedeoth Ahronot reported.

The court said officer Ibrahim Ghannam, 26 allowed around 100 Palestinians to enter Jerusalem to work. According to indictment report, he sometimes received kickbacks such as cigarettes and soft drinks as a payment.

Meanwhile, Israeli radio reported on thursday that Israeli authorities will impose a tight siege on the old city of Jerusalem on Friday to restrict the entrance of Palestinians to the Aqsa Mosque square.

Israeli police is expected to beef its troops in the old city and will allow only women and Muslim men older than 50 years to enter.

In related news, Fatah movement called for a general strike throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Friday in protest against what they described as “fierce and planned Israeli attacks” on Jerusalem holy sites.

The call follows a week of high tension in Jerusalem after Israeli settlers backed by police entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque, setting off demonstrations, during which dozens of Palestinians were injured by the Israeli police.

Conclusion
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