This morning, having invaded and imposed a curfew on the Palestinian village of Al-Walaja, Israeli armed forces proceeded to the northern side of the village where they demolished six Palestinian homes they claimed had been built without permission.

Situated 6.5km north west of Bethlehem the village of Al-walaja comes under the municipality of Bethlehem. Infrastructure and all health and social services to the community are provided by the Palestinian Authority, - who in the last few months have built new roads in the village. Despite the fact that there are no services provided by Israel, Israeli opinion is that the area should be considered part of a "greater" Jerusalem.

Mustafa Abu al-Tin, the head of Al-Walaja's town council, said that the forces invaded and imposed a curfew before going directly to the area where they intended to demolish the houses. In his opinion the aim of such demolitions in this area is to free up more land that can be added to the "greater" Jerusalem district.

Journalists attempting to monitor and bear witness to the demolitions were prevented from doing so by threats from the Israeli forces to confiscate IDs and equipment.

Also today 50 Palestinian inmates of the Israeli Ber Sheva prison were found to have been poisoned as a result of eating rotten food given to them by prison officers. According to Issa Qaraqie, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, five of these 50 prisoners remain in a serious condition yet the Israeli Prison authorities have refused to transfer them to hospital. Issa Qaraqie also made clear that this is not the first time that Palestinian prisoners have become ill, in some cases fatally, due to carelessness in Israeli prisons.