In Gaza, the radical Salafist group Tawhid and Jihad issues a statement saying it has kidnapped an Italian national in Gaza and will kill him by 5:00 p.m. local time on 4/15 if Hamas authorities do not release its imprisoned leaders (Hisham Saidani and Shaykh Abu Wali al-Makdisi, arrested in 3/2011), other supporters, and “global jihadists.” A Palestinian wounded by IDF shelling in Gaza on 4/8 dies of his injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in 3 villages nr. Jericho and Ramallah in the morning and 4 villages nr. Qalqilya, 1 nr. Nablus, and 1 nr. Tulkarm late at night. Jewish settlers fr. Brakha settlement nr. Nablus attack Palestinian farmers working their land nearby; when the Palestinians throw stones at the settlers, the IDF intervenes, firing tear gas at the Palestinians to disperse them. (NYT 4/15; PCHR 4/21; OCHA 4/29)
Thursday, April 14, 2011