US Secretary of State Rice visits the city of Bethlehem while the Israeli army continues to attack Palestinians killing one in Gaza and kidnapping many more in several parts of the West Bank, these stories and more coming up stay tuned.

The Gaza strip

Early on Wednesday the Israeli army attacked the southern Gaza Strip village of aL-Faraheen, killing one resistance fighter, wounding three and abducting 15 others. Medics confirmed that Hazim Asfour, had been killed and three others wounded during the said attack on the aL-Faraheen, earlier in the day.

At least 15 others have been arrested by an Israeli undercover special unit, which swept into the area prior to the attack, witnesses said. They added that Israeli tanks fired a number of shells as cover for the special unit. A Hamas resistance fighter was killed and three others wounded.

The West Bank

Condoleezza Rice, the United States Secretary of State, visited the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Wednesday morning. Rice began her short tour of the city by visiting the Church of the Nativity, where she was received by Dr. Khloud Daibes, the Minister of Tourism, and the heads of Christian denominations.

In a statement, Rice referred to the importance of the church and the role it can play in overcoming the obstacles to peace. Rice met with businessmen from the district of Bethlehem before travelling on to Ramallah for a scheduled meeting with the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas. No official statement from the meeting had been released at the time of this report.

On the ground, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron Israeli soldiers opened fire on Al Arob refugee camp on Wednesday. A Palestinian man was injured when an Israeli army patrol in the camp shot him. In related news, the Israeli military injured a Palestinian in the town of Anabta in northern Tulkarem on Tuesday night when they attacked the area.

In other attacks targeting the cities of Nablus, Qalqilia, and Bethlehem in the West Bank, the Israelis kidnapped at least 18 Palestinian civilians on Wednesday morning.

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 George Rishmawi.