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Israel
Blows Up Palestinian Radio Offices
RAMALLAH,
West Bank, Jan. 19 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israeli
occupation troops dynamited a seven-story building early Saturday to
the southeast of this West Bank town where the offices of
Palestinian radio were located, a Palestinian security source said.
No one was in the building when it was blown up, shortly after being
occupied by Israeli soldiers.
The
Israeli army destroyed the Voice of Palestine’s radio transmitter
about a month ago, and the station had since broadcast sporadically
using other means.
Witnesses
said that the troops set the building on fire by detonating an
explosive charge before dawn Saturday, reported the BBC’s Online
News Service.
Soldiers
had entered the building earlier to set the charges and clear away
people in the building.
"This
stupid Israeli Government wants to destroy the symbol of Palestinian
sovereignty. But Voice of Palestine radio is not only a building to
be destroyed, it is inside the hearts of every Palestinian,"
said West Bank security chief, Jibril Rajoub, BBC reported.
Israel
claims that the stations, which broadcasts the official positions of
the Palestinian Authority, has transmitted what it calls
‘inciteful’ material since the beginning of the intifada, or
uprising, 15 months ago, BBC said.
In
its continuous aggression, the Israeli troops patrolled the area
close to the headquarters of Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat,
in another district of Ramallah.
Arafat’s
offices were under tight blockade Friday after Israeli air raids on
the West Bank town of Tulkarem.
Heated
protests erupted outside the offices, and Israeli occupation troops
opened fire on Palestinian youths stoning their tanks. Six
Palestinians were injured, one of them critically.
The
Palestinians said that Israel wanted to destroy Arafat's
administration by sparking new bloodshed with a targeted killing of
a known resistance leader Monday.
American-made
F-16 jet fighters pounded the headquarters of Tulkarem's governor
before dawn.
The
attack on Tulkarem, in the northeast West Bank, just 20 kilometers
(12 miles) across the dividing Green Line from Hadera, left
Palestinian security officer Jamal Al Aswad, 24, dead and 40 other
people injured.
The
Israeli bombs also blasted out the doors and windows of an adjacent
prison, allowing the detainees -- including members of Hamas and
Islamic Jihad -- to flee.
At
the same time, more than 20 Israeli tanks and armored personnel
carriers entered Palestinian-controlled land in Ramallah, north of
Jerusalem, and moved to within 50 meters (yards) of Arafat's
offices.
Arafat
has been under a blockade since December 3, 2001 following a series
of resistance operations.
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