Israeli occupation forces seize three Palestinians near Nablus

Date: 07 / 10 / 2008  Time:  17:49
Nablus – Ma’an –

Israeli occupation forces apprehended three Palestinians from the northern West Bank village of Asira Al-Qibliya near Nablus, local Palestinians say.

Palestinians in the village told Ma’an that more than ten military vehicles stormed the area, inspected several homes and then seized 38-year-old Yahya Salih and his son, 16-year-old Abdullah, as well as 23-year-old Ammar Salih.

Palestinian man shot by Israeli occupation forces

Date: 07 / 10 / 2008  Time:  11:52
Nablus – Ma’an –

Israeli occupation special forces shot and wounded a Palestinian man during a failed arrest raid in Al-Fara’a Refugee Camp, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday.

According to local sources, undercover Israeli troops invaded the camp in search of a “wanted” Palestinian fighter affiliated to Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades.

The troops, who were riding in a Palestinian dairy truck, shot 32-year-old Umar Subeh in the stomach and “harshly” assaulted his 22-year-old disabled brother Yousuf during clashes that followed the aborted raid.

The undercover forces surrounded house of 28-year-old Al-Quds Brigades member Samer Al-Ghoul, but was unable to capture him.

Failing to apprehend Al-Ghoul, a large number of uniformed Israeli soldiers invaded the camp to support the special forces, provoking clashes with stone-throwing Palestinians. Israeli troops used bullets and tear gas against the Palestinians. It was during this confrontation that Subeh was shot.

Israeli occupation forces kidnap several West Bank residents

Tuesday October 07, 2008 10:24 by IMEMC Staff - IMEMC & Agencies

The Israeli occupation forces kidnapped several Palestinian residents from a number of West Bank areas on Tuesday, including Jenin and Bethlehem, Palestinian sources reported.

An Israeli contingent broke into the city of Jenin early today and cordoned off the Marah Sa'd neighborhood, detaining two residents after ransacking houses and vandalizing furniture inside, witnesses said.

Witnesses added that the Israeli soldiers fired gas canisters into a crowd of people, injuring two sisters n their twenties. The sisters were evacuated to a nearby hospital for suffocation from gas inhalation.

In the West Bank city of Bethlehem, the Israeli troops detained five residents from Dehaisha refugee camp and the town of Alkhader, Palestinian security sources reported.

The sources said that a large military force stormed the refugee camp and broke into several houses detaining five residents were detained.

Witnesses said that the Israeli occupation soldiers attacked a number of residents and others and beat them severely. They were evacuated to a nearby hospital.

Meanwhile, armed illegal Israeli settlers shot and wounded a Palestinian resident from Far'a refugee camp near the West Bank city of Hebron, Palestinian media sources reported.

Israeli occupation army attacks on the West Bank areas take place on daily basis, as the region has been under strict Israeli military occupation since 1967.

Several residents wounded, one seriously, in an Israeli invasion to Nablus

Wednesday October 08, 2008 02:41 by IMEMC News

The Palestine News reported that dozens of soldiers, members of the under-cover units of the Israeli occupation forces, supported by a number of military vehicles invaded on Tuesday morning the Al Far’a refugee camp, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and surrounded a number of homes while firing at random,  several residents were wounded; one seriously.

The agency stated that the army was targeting Sami Mohammad Al Ghoul, 29, member of the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad.

During the invasion, resident Omar Sbeih, 36, was shot and wounded by Israeli occupation forces fire while he was in his own shop near a surrounded home. He was moved to a hospital in Nablus suffering a serious injury.

Medical sources reported that Sbeih bled for a while before receiving medical help as the soldiers barred the medics from entering the area.

Furthermore, several residents suffocated after inhaling gas fired extensively during the invasion; they were treated by field medics.

Local sources reported that the army withdrew from the camp without conducting any arrests, that the fighters who hid in a number of homes left them safely later on.

19 Palestinians kidnapped by Israeli occupation forces during overnight raids

Date: 07 / 10 / 2008  Time:  10:14
Bethlehem – Ma’an –

Israeli occupation forces kidnapped 19 Palestinians during overnight raids in the West Bank cities of Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Hebron and Bethlehem, the Israeli military said on Tuesday morning.

Bethlehem

Five were taken from Bethlehem. Palestinian security sources identified the detainees as: 18-year-old Mohammad Zawahrah, 20-year-old Mohammad Sajadi, 18-year-old Adham Al-Eiwi and 18-year-old Mohannad Al-Humouz, all from Ad-Duheisha Refugee Camp and the neighboring town of Ad-Doha. In the village of Al-Khadr, 21-year-old Nidal Sbeih was arrested.

Security sources also said that Israeli occupation forces assaulted Ashraf Az-Zghari and Ahmad Sajadi while holding them briefly in custody. Sajadi was then transferred to the Beit Jala public hospital for treatment.

Hebron

In the city of Hebron, in the southern West Bank, Israeli occupation forces kidnapped three people, including a policeman and a university student.

Witnesses told Ma’an that Israeli occupation soldiers stormed the house of 35-year-old policeman Ahmad Abu-Hussein, destroyed his property and beat him before detaining him.

Israeli occupation forces also detained 21-year-old student Sa’ed Mohammad Salhab after raiding his house.

Hebron resident Anwar Rweished said that an Israeli occupation force surrounded house of his 25-year-old son, Hani, searched the house, and then seized him.

Tulkarem

The Israeli occupation army kidnapped 32-year-old Arcylin Ahmad Sawalha from her house located in the village of Dhinnaba east of the city of Tulkarem, in the northern West Bank. Israeli occupation soldiers invaded Dhinnaba and surrounded Sawalha’s house before arresting her.

Sawalha works as an accountant in at a charity called Bayareq Al-Ata in Tulkarem. She is sister of an Islamic Jihad leader in Jenin.

Israeli occupation forces also detained 23-year-old Mus’ab Ibrahim and 26-year-old Ala’ Moussa from Izbat Shufa, in southwest of Tulkarem after raiding their houses and destroying property.

***Updateds at 11:26am

Israeli occupation forces 'impede' firefighters, rescue workers as land burns

Date: 07 / 10 / 2008  Time:  14:07
Tulkarem – Ma’an –

Israeli occupation soldiers allowed vast areas of agricultural land to burn near the village of Qaffin in northern Tulkarem, the city's mayor told Ma'an on Tuesday.

A 30-year-old pregnant woman reportedly sustained burns, while a 57-year-old man nearly suffocated before he was evacuated to an Israeli hospital. Both were eventually transferred to Thabit Thabit Hospital in Tulkarem. Medical officials identified the two as Ibtisam Harisha and Adil Khasib.

The mayor of Tulkarem blamed Israeli forces for the two injured Palestinians, as well as the charred land, accusing soldiers of intentionally delaying firefighters for hours.

150,000 square meters were on fire and Israeli occupation forces impeded the entry of firefighters for two hours, Mayor Aai’d Harasha told Ma’an. The destroyed land is located behind the Israeli separation wall, which the mayor blamed for more than 1,500,000 square meters burned in separate fires.

Harasha added that the “Israeli occupation (forces) deliberately hinders the entry of Palestinian farmers to their fields,” citing the location of an electronic gate controlled by soldiers who allow farmers to access the land just three times per week.

The mayor called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to place pressure on Israel to ease the entry of farmers to their fields, “especially now that olive harvest season has begun,” he said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze or if fire officials had yet managed to extinguish it.