Palestine Today 082808

Israeli military forces invade West Bank cities and kidnap 16 civilians, meanwhile Egypt promises Gaza border crossing reopened before Ramadan, these stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.

The News Cast

Israeli military forces invaded the West Bank cities of Nablus Tulkarem, Hebron, Bethlehem, Jenin and Tubas on Thursday morning kidnapping 16 civilians.

A number of Israeli military vehicles invaded Nablus, shooting gunfire and concussion grenades in residential areas. Soldiers surrounded a number of houses and harassed civilians by throwing sound bombs for over two hours.

Troops invaded students' dorms in the city and kidnapped 6 college students and took them to an undisclosed location after ransacking their dorms.

A group of Israeli settlers set a construction workshop on fire on Thursday morning in Burin village near the south of the West Bank city of Nablus.

Eyewitnesses said the settlers from the nearby Brakha settlement, poured gasoline at the building workshop equipments and set them on fire burning most of the tools and equipment, however, no casualties were reported.

In the meantime, Israeli soldiers invaded Tulkarem at dawn backed by military vehicles. Troops launched a wide scale search campaign through out several houses using police dogs, confiscated computers and other belongings.

Troops kidnapped 4 civilians from Saleh family after ransacking their place and confiscating money and personal computers. They were all taken to an unknown destination.

In Hebron, Israeli troops raided the residence of an-Najar family located near the separation wall on the city's lands. Troops kidnapped 5 family members and took them to a disclosed location.

In Bethlehem troops surrounded the residence of Ala’ Brijiye 35; troops ransacked his place leaving damages before seizing him to n unknown destination.

Also in Bethlehem troops invaded "al-Ihsan" medical center, destroyed and confiscated equipments local soruces said, adding that Israeli troops invaded the center earlier in the month and kidnapped some of the Medics.

Moreover in Jenin, troops invaded the city lobbing gunfire and sound bombs arbitrary, troops harassed civilians by searching a number of homes belonging to Abed Family.

Israeli soldiers also invaded the near by Kufur Dan and Bir Basha villages. Troops deployed in several neighborhoods and shot sound bombs but no kidnapping were reported.

In Tubas, troops centered in several streets and restricted the movement of civilian cars as they checked the passengers ID cards and driving licenses. Troops also shot sound and light bombs randomly in the city's streets.

In the meantime, Egypt said it will reopen the Rafah crossing with the Gaza Strip on Saturday and Sunday to in order to end the plight of 200 Egyptians stranded in the Gaza Strip for the past seven months, media outlets reported today.

After successfully breaking the siege on Gaza via sea on Saturday, the Free Gaza boats were slated to leave at 2 pm instead of the previously slated morning departure. Seven Palestinians who have been previously been denied exit visas will be leaving with them.

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 Husam Qassis and Rula Shahwan