In the West Bank, Israeli forces invade several areas, killing one and kidnapping at least 19 others. In the Gaza Strip meanwhile, the Israeli army invades the north of the coastal region. These stories and more coming up. Stay tuned.

The West Bank

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday outlined his precise demands regarding the borders of a future Palestinian state, calling for a complete Israeli withdrawal from those territories occupied in 1967. Speaking in an interview with Palestine TV, Abbas declared the Palestinian negation team would settle for no less than all of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, in addition to areas inside the so-called "no man's land".

One member of the al-Aqsa brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, was killed and another injured when undercover Israeli forces invaded the Old City of Nablus on Wednesday morning. Eyewitnesses stated that a contingent of undercover Israeli troops trapped a group of Palestinian resistance fighters in an area of the old city and opened fire on them, killing Ammar al-Enabosy, 23.

Elsewhere, Israeli military forces invaded the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia on Wednesday morning, kidnapping at least nine Palestinians. In a separate attack, Israeli troops also invaded the Al-Ama'ari refugee camp, near Ramallah, kidnapping three Palestinians.

In the southern West bank, the Israeli military kidnapped Yousif al-Natsha, 49, a member of Bethlehem's Municipal Council, and Ahmad Al Sahreef, 18, from their houses in the city.

Four members of Hamas were arrested by Fatah-allied security forces on Wednesday, Hamas sources have reported. In a statement released to the press, the movement claims that the men were arrested from Nablus and Tubas, both located in the northern West Bank.
The Gaza Strip
Israeli army tanks and bulldozers invaded the northern part of the Gaza strip on Wednesday afternoon, Palestinian sources have reported. Local sources indicated that at least 10 tanks and some bulldozers invaded Palestinian farm lands located around the town of Beit Hannon. Eyewitnesses stated that army helicopters also took part in the attack. While bulldozers razed arable land in the area, no injuries were reported.
The al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a sniper attack on an Israeli soldier in northern Gaza. In a statement faxed to press, the group claimed that the soldier was hit as Israeli troops invaded the al-Mazra’a area of Beit Hanoun. The statement added that the brigade’s fighters had also fired a number of mortars on Israeli armored vehicles.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights on Tuesday announced that both the Hamas and Fatah movements had committed "grave breaches" of international human rights law during the recent bloody spate of infighting that resulted in Hamas establishing total control over the coastal region. The report highlights that members of both factions had been the victims of extrajudicial assassinations, torture and kidnap, all of which contravene basic human rights legislation the world over.

Conclusion

Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today from the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, brought to you by John Smith and Ghassan Bannoura.