Israeli occupation forces declare total closure of the occupied Palestinian territories, ambush a Palestinian resistance group near Jenin

Israeli occupation forces declare total closure of the occupied Palestinian territories

Tuesday March 18, 2008 18:06 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

The Israeli occupation forces declared on Tuesday a total closure of the occupied Palestinian territories, starting from today morning until next Sunday.

In the wake of security assessments, the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, had learned, the Israeli military decided to seal off the border crossings with Gaza and the West Bank, Israeli media sources reported.

The sources cited underway celebrations for the Jewish holiday of Purim, as well as Israeli fears of a retaliation attack by the Lebanese Hizbullah party for the assassination of senior Hizbullah leader , Emad Mughaniya, several weeks ago.

Chief of Israeli police, Dudi Cohen, was reported by Israeli media sources as having conducted enlarged assessment of the situation and ordered deployment of his forces in the various Israeli cities and towns.

Closure of the occupied Palestinian territories has been a norm by the Israeli military since the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli violence (Intifada) in September2000. Israel often cites security considerations for such a closure.

Since June of last year, Israel has been imposing a crippling closure of the coastal region, in the aftermath of the Islamist Hamas's takeover of Gaza, citing halting Palestinian homemade shells fire onto nearby Israeli areas.

Palestinian resistance group escapes Israeli ambush near Jenin

Tuesday March 18, 2008 12:21 by Ali Samoudi - IMEMC News

A group of Palestinian resistance fighters, on Tuesday at midday, escaped an Israeli occupation forces ambush in the village of Zababda, located south of Jenin city in the northern West Bank.

Palestinian sources said that at least 20 Israeli occupation armored vehicles stormed the village of Zababda on Tuesday morning, surrounding the local mosque. Israeli occupation forces figures claimed that Palestinian resistance fighters were hiding inside.

Israeli occupation forces attacked and searched a number of nearby homes before opening fire at the mosque and the nearby Catholic monastery. Damage was reported, but no injures.

During the attack, invading troops clashed with local youth who hurled stones at the soldiers. Troops responded with tear gas and live rounds, although no injures have been reported.

The operation finished on Tuesday at midday, when troops left the village after kidnapping local Shaikh, Fat'hi Qatiyah, 35.

The Islamic Jihad movement have announced that the attack on Zababdah targeted a group of their fighters. In a statement faxed to press, the group revealed that their fighters escaped the area long before the army surrounded the mosque.

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