Israeli occupation soldiers kidnapped eight Palestinians in West Bank raids

Date: 22 / 04 / 2009  Time:  10:46
Bethlehem – Ma’an –

Israeli occupation soldiers kidnapped eight Palestinians during overnight raids in the West Bank on Wednesday.

An Israeli military spokesperson said Palestinians were taken from Bethlehem and the nearby village of Tuqua, and Ramallah.

The identities of the detainees have not been determined. They are being held in an unknown location.

Israeli occupation forces kidnap Palestinian security officer from Jenin-area home

Date: 22 / 04 / 2009  Time:  11:17
Jenin – Ma’an –

 Israeli occupation soldiers kidnapped a Palestinian Authority (PA) security officer during a raid on his home near the West Bank city of Jenin early on Wednesday morning.

Israeli occupation forces raided several houses in the village of Khirbet Maraka, southwest of Jenin, and detained Nasser Ahmad Mustafa Musa, an officer in the Palestinian National Security Service.

On Tuesday Israeli occupation soldiers also abducted a PA intelligence officer from Jenin, where the PA’s forces were allowed to reassert control last year. With these detentions, five PA security officers have been seized in the northern West Bank in the last three weeks alone.

Israeli occupation government demolishes Palestinian house in East Jerusalem

Date: 22 / 04 / 2009  Time:  11:48
Jerusalem – Ma’an –

The Israeli-controlled Jerusalem Municipality demolished a Palestinian house in the Jabal Al-Mukabbir neighborhood of East Jerusalem on the pretext that it was built without a permit.

The house, in the Al-Sala’a area, was owned by of Ammar Hudaidoon and was home to seven people. Ammar told Ma’an that he received no warning from the municipality before the demolition.

Two months ago the municipality used construction equipment to attack the foundation of the house.

Building permits are the most often used pretext for demolishing houses, though Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem say permission is often near-impossible to obtain from the Jerusalem Municipality. Hundreds of houses in the city are currently slated for demolition.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed the city in a move not recognized internationally.

Seven journalists injured by Israeli soldiers in West Bank since January

Date: 21 / 04 / 2009  Time:  21:16
Bethlehem - Ma'an -

Reporters Without Borders sent a letter to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in April condemning the recent violence against seven journalists in the West Bank.

In a Tuesday news conference following up on the letter, which has received no response, the organization stressed that all seven individuals were injured "although they were clearly identified as working for the press.”

“Seven journalists have been injured in this manner since the start of the year by shots fired by Israeli soldiers. We again condemn these acts of violence and we urge the Israeli authorities to guarantee the safety of journalists operating in the region," the organization reiterated.

Those injured include:

Atta Awad, a photographer employed by the Ramattan news agency, was injured by tear gas grenades fired by Israeli soldiers during the weekly protest against the Security Wall in Bil’in on 10 April. He was taken to a hospital for treatment to injuries to the shoulder and back.

Journalist Mohamed As-Said was injured while covering clashes between settlers and Palestinian residents in Safa, near Hebron, on 7 April. He was hit when Israeli soldiers fired tear gas grenades.

Reuters photographer Said Houwari and Rabhi Al-Koubri, a photographer employed by the Palestinian news network Pal-media.net, were injured by bullets while they and other journalists were covering the weekly protest against the Security Wall in Bil’in on 3 April.

Khalil Riyash, a photographer employed by the Palestinian news agency Ma’an, and Reuters photographer Bachar Nazal were injured by rubber bullets while covering a protest against the Security Wall on 27 March in Jayyus (in Qalqiliya district). They were hospitalized for a week.