Palestine Today 011209

The death toll in Gaza reaches 917 as Israel decides to step-up its operation, while in the West Bank Israeli troops kidnapped six civilians on Monday, these stories and more coming up stay tuned.

The News Cast

On the 17th day of the ongoing Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Army carried out further strikes Monday morning, killing 10 Palestinians, including two children and two women, in different parts of the Gaza Strip.

Dr. Moawiya Hassanen, of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said that the Israeli Army shelled the al-Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on Monday at midday. The shells directly hit a number of homes, killing three family members.

Medical sources reported that two residents, including a child, were killed in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Their bodies were moved to Kamal Adwan Hospital.

The sources added that a child of Dalloul family died of his wounds in al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The child was wounded in overnight Israeli military shelling that targeted al-Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City; one woman was also killed in the shelling.

Also, Amal Mohammad Al Madhoun and another resident, who remained unidentified, were killed in another Israeli strike. Resident, Shaiboub Shambaly died at a hospital in Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, after he was seriously wounded by the Israelis.

Heavy clashes were reported in a number of areas in the north and the south of Gaza City. The Israeli Air Force first shelled dozens of homes in the area before ground troops advanced inside the city.

So far at least 917 Palestinians, including 283 children, have been killed in the ongoing offensive while the number of injured Palestinians in now over 3800, including 460 who are in serious conditions. The Israeli government decided on Sunday night to push more troops into the Palestinian Costal Region and announced the third stage of the military operation.

In the West Bank on Monday hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets in several cities against the Israeli military offensive in Gaza. Earlier on Monday at dawn Israeli troops invaded towns and villages in the West Bank and kidnapped at least six Palestinian civilians.

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, and George Rishmawi.