Sunday February 21, 2010 16:15 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

Israeli occupation troops fired tear gas and concussion grenades on Sunday midday at a Mass held by residents of Beit Sahour, a city in the southern West Bank.

Residents from Beit Sahour, along with international supporters, gathered at the evacuated Israeli military base of Ush Al-Guhrab east of the city. People held banners demanding the halt of the recently renewed Israeli construction at the site, and called for the end of settlement activity around their city.

The former military base at Ush Ghrab was abandoned by the Israeli army in April 2006, and part of the site was transformed into a public park and centre for the residents of Beit Sahour by the city’s municipality.

The municipality of Beit Sahour has been prevented by the army from converting the rest of the area into a children’s hospital serving all southern West Bank, as they had planned to do. Two years ago settlers announced that they were planning to erect a settlement at Ush Al-Ghurab and called it Shdema.

Last week, the Israeli army came back to the old military sitte and started to bulldoze land and put in military installations.

Today's action was organized by the Popular Committee to Defend Ush Ghrab. People stood near the military site and started to hold a Sunday Mass, when Israeli border police troops attacked them with tear gas and sound bombs. Among the people affected by the gas were children and elderly.

No one was seriously injured; residents walked back and promised to come back every Sunday, after soldiers announced the area as a closed military zone. Seven military jeeps loaded with troops were involved in stopping the Mass on Sunday, according to witnesses.

Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Cars & Drivers Near Nablus

Monday February 22, 2010 10:32 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

Right-wing Israeli settlers threw stones at Palestinian cars near Nablus, breaking several windshields and wounding a Palestinian doctor on Sunday.

According to local news sources, the incident took place on the Nablus-Jenin road in the northern West Bank, and is part of a pattern of attacks by settlers against Palestinians in that area that has significantly increased in recent weeks.

A Palestinian Authority official in charge of settlement activity in the northern West Bank told the Ma'an news agency that several dozen settlers "hurled stones on the As-Seela road, near Homesh, totally shattering the windshields of several Palestinian cars." He added, "attacks by settlers on Palestinians in the Nablus district continue, almost every day,” and called on the US and the Quartet for Mideast Peace to intervene and stop the attacks.

The rock throwing on Sunday took place in the same area where settlers shot and injured a teenage boy working on his family's land earlier this month.

IOF troops detain 5 Palestinians, shell resistance fighters

 [ 22/02/2010 - 10:30 AM ]

BETHLEHEM, (PIC)--

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up five Palestinian citizens in West Bank districts at dawn Monday at the pretext they were "wanted", a Hebrew daily said.

Yediot Ahronot quoted IOF sources as saying that the campaign of arrests focused on the Bethlehem and Jenin districts, during which searches of homes and field interrogation were made.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Jewish settlers, escorted by tens of IOF soldiers, on Monday stormed the village of Kifl Hares in Salfit district to visit what they call a religious site.

Citizens in the village said that the IOF soldiers imposed a curfew on the town after isolating it from the outside world to secure the settlers' visit.

In the Gaza Strip, a group of resistance fighters survived on Sunday night an IOF air raid on Sudaniya area north of the Strip.

IOF gunboats also opened heavy machinegun fire at Palestinian fishing boats in the same area but no casualties were reported after the fishermen evacuated the area.