Israeli occupation army invades West Bank areas, kidnaps 3 civilians, 14 critically ill Palestinians prevented from leaving Gaza

The Israeli occupation army invades a number of West Bank areas and kidnaps three civilians

Tuesday July 22, 2008 15:23 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli occupation army conducted a number of invasions targeting several West Bank are on Tuesday at dawn, three civilians were kidnapped.

In Hebron city, located in the southern part of the West Bank, the Israeli occupation army searched and ransacked homes in the old part of the city and nearby Bani Nu'em and Beit Omer village.

During the search witnesses said that Israeli occupation soldiers kidnapped one civilian form Bani Nu'em and two others form Beit Omer. Meanwhile, Israeli forces invaded the northern West Bank city of Nablus and the nearby Balata refugee camp at dawn on Tuesday.

Local sources said that soldiers ransacked a number of homes then left. No kidnappings were reported. The northern West Bank city of Jenin was attacked by the Israeli army also on Tuesday at dawn. Sources in the city reported home searches but no kidnappings.

14 critically ill Palestinians blocked by Israel from leaving Gaza

Tuesday July 22, 2008 06:47 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

According to the Israeli group Physicians for Human Rights, the Israeli occupation government secret service has recently prevented fourteen critically ill patients from leaving the Gaza Strip for medical treatment due to 'security reasons'.

Among those blocked are two brothers, age 13 and 14, who are both blind and in critical need of treatment. Over the past two months, 120 patients have appealed to Physicians for Human Rights after being denied permission to leave Gaza for medical treatment.

For two years, Israel has closed all borders of the Gaza Strip, making many residents of the Strip refer to it as 'the largest open-air prison on earth'. 211 patients, 46 of whom were children, have died over the last two years because Israel has refused to allow them to exit the Strip for medical treatment. Israeli forces, which control all borders of Gaza, have also prevented medical supplies and medicine from entering the Gaza Strip during the siege, in addition to bombing the electricity generation plant that provided electricity to run Gaza's hospitals.

The Physicians for Human Rights reported that Israel has recently reduced drastically the number of Palestinian patients allowed out of the Gaza Strip for treatment. That number is now down to less than 20 per day. These are the only people that Israel allows to leave the Gaza Strip – all other Palestinian residents continue to be imprisoned within Gaza's borders.

Palestinian legislators criticize Israeli abduction of female legislator

Tuesday July 22, 2008 07:42 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

After Israeli forces abducted Palestinian legislator Mona Mansour, along with thirty other people in Nablus Monday, a number of prominent Palestinian legislators have condemned the abduction and called for Mansour's release.

The abductions by Israeli forces occur on a daily basis, but usually do not include such prominent figures as those taken Monday. But this is not the first time Israeli forces have abducted elected figures in the Palestinian government. After the Hamas party was democratically elected in 2006, Israeli forces went on a raid of Palestinian legislators' homes, abducting dozens of them. Many of those legislators are still being held today, including the seriously ill Dr. Aziz Al-Duwaik.

In the case of Mona Mansour, Palestinian legislators like Khaleda Jarrar and Ayman Daraghma have made public statements calling for her immediate release.

Khaleda Jarrar, a legislator with the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP, said that the abduction of Mansour shows the 'fascist' nature of the Israeli occupation forces, which engage in what she called 'rabid' campaigns of abductions in the West Bank, particularly in Nablus. She called for an end to the security coordination being carried out by the Fat'h party with the Israeli occupying forces.

Ayman Daraghma said that the arrest of Mona Mansour by Israeli forces is a challenge to the unelected Fat'h government in the West Bank, which is headed by Salam Fayyad.
Mansour's office also released a statement calling on the international community to intervene to end the 'Israeli farce' and free the Palestinian legislators that are being imprisoned by Israel, with their only crime being that they represent a party with whom Israel disagrees.

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