Illegal Israeli settlers burn Palestinian property, IOF damage land and detain citizens

[ 14/01/2010 - 11:09 AM ]

QALQILIA, (PIC)--

Jewish armed settlers wreaked havoc in the village of Ematin, Qalqilia district, in a pre dawn raid on Thursday that complemented their sabotage acts in the same village over the past two weeks.

Eyewitnesses said that the settlers from a nearby settlement burnt four vehicles in the village while people were asleep before swiftly withdrawing.

Villagers said that the vehicles were three cars and a tractor.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up 12 Palestinians in various West Bank areas at an early hour on Thursday during which they searched homes and harassed civilians.

The IOF soldiers on Wednesday night bulldozed four dunums of cultivated land lots in Safa north of Beit Ummar village, Al-Khalil district.

Local sources said that the IOF troops commenced their destruction without prior notice, noting that the land was cultivated with fruitful trees.

In the Gaza Strip, the IOF troops advanced into northeast of Rafah city for a few hours on Wednesday afternoon amidst intensified firing at civilian neighborhoods.

PIC reporter said that the soldiers mounting three armored vehicles escorted bulldozers that damaged cultivated fields.

The troops stationed east of Rafah fired at citizens' homes and IOF artillery fired at agricultural areas east of Jabalia north of the Gaza Strip inflicting material damage but no casualties.

IOF F-16 warplanes flew at low altitudes over the Strip on Wednesday and penetrated the sound barrier spreading fear among civilians especially children.

The Israeli military kidnap two civilians as they crossing borders into the West Bank

Wednesday January 13, 2010 19:29 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News & Agencies

Two Palestinian civilians from the same family were kidnapped by the Israeli military on Wednesday at dawn as they were crossing the borders between Jordan and the West Bank.

Israeli troops kidnapping a Palestinian civilian in Hebron – Photo by IMEMC's Ghassan Bannoura -File 2008

Suhyaib, 23 years old and his sister Safa', 20 years old, are the son and daughter of Khulod Al Massri, a municipality council member of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Al Massri told reporters that the military have banned the family from contacting their children and also did not allow lawyers to meet with them. Both Suhyaib and Safa' are students in Amman university, Al Massri added. The military gave no reason for kidnapping the two.

Chief Editor of major Palestinian news Agency detained - IMEMC Exclusive interview

Wednesday January 13, 2010 17:20 by Nathan Stokes - IMEMC News

Following the detention of Jared Malsin, Ma’an News Agency’s chief editor at Ben Gurion yesterday, IMEMC spoke with George Hale, an editor at Ma’an.

Mr. Hale told IMEMC that in addition to the lawyer that Ma’an has hired on Mr. Malsin’s behalf, the United States embassy, specifically the embassy’s press officer, is also working on the case.

Ma’ans lawyer has met with Mr. Malsin and is attempting to secure an injunction against the deportation order that will see Mr Malsin depart on a flight back to the Czech Republic at 6:05am tomorrow morning, appealing to the Israeli Supreme Court to overrule the Ministry of Interior’s decision.

The Ministry has not commented officially on the situation, but Ma’an has been told that Mr. Maslin’s detention and deportation are based upon security issues.

Mr. Hale stated that he had spoken to Mr. Maslin late last night, although briefly, and Mr. Maslin reported that he had been subjected to “8 hours of grueling interrogation.”

Mr. Hale continued, “Even if the chances are slim, Ma’an will still protest, as Jared has done nothing illegal. He’s a journalist; he’s not a security threat to the State of Israel… Jared speaks to the Israeli military probably 20 times a day. Ma’an staff has been invited to tour Israeli military bases and have done so without issue.”

With regards to the other members of Ma’an’s staff, Mr. Hale stated that, “no threats have been made against other members of staff, but our position is that we support Jared publicly and should the Israeli government decide that we don’t have the same rights afforded to the journalists on the other side of the wall… it doesn’t concern our day to day lives until they tell us to stop.”

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