The Israeli army kills two Palestinians in Gaza and kidnaps 14 others in the West Bank, these stories and more coming up, stay tuned.

The Gaza strip

A fresh Israeli air strike on northern Gaza on Monday left one Palestinian resistance fighter killed and four other residents injured, medics confirmed. Palestinian media sources said that 24-year-old Abdelkareem Al Ja'ber of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, was killed, and four others were injured, after an Israeli drone fired a missile on a group of resistance fighters in northern Gaza.

In Beit Lahyia town, also located in the northern part of the Gaza strip, one man was killed and another injured when Israeli army tanks opened fire at residents' homes on Monday afternoon. Israeli media sources reported earlier that two Palestinian homemade shells were fired Monday into southern Israel, but reported no injuries or damages.

Meanwhile, in Gaza on Monday, a number of Hamas parliament members, led by the dismissed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, signed a document that rejects Tuesday's Annapolis summit.

The American president George Bush announced that he will hold a meeting with the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli Prime Minister Ehod Olmert today. The meeting comes one day before the conference in Annapolis, Maryland. The Palestinian and Israeli leaders arrived in Washington on Sunday. For months, the American Administration had unsuccessfully pushed the two sides for joint meetings in order to reach a joint statement before the conference.

The West Bank

The Israeli army attacked several parts of the West Bank on Monday morning and kidnapped at least 14 Palestinian civilians; the attacks occurred in Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus, and Tulkarem cities.

In Tulkarem, the Israeli forces kidnapped the Hamas leader, Jamal Hadayda and his wife Raja after attacking their home in Tulkarem refugee camp on Monday. Eyewitnesses reported that Hadayda and his wife were injured during the invasion and were transferred to an undisclosed detention facility by an Israeli Ambulance. Blood spots were reportedly seen in the area.

Palestinian media sources in Bethlehem city in the southern part of the West Bank reported that a Palestinian journalist was kidnapped by unknown gunmen on Saturday night. He was released on Sunday afternoon. Hafez Asakra, a journalist working at the Palestinian News Agency Maan News, was kidnapped while on his way to work. In a phone call with IMEMC, Asakra said that unknown gunmen offered him money to publish false news about Palestinian officials and when he refused, they threatened to kill him, but later released him.

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 Brenna Cussen and Ghassan Bannoura.