Israeli troops shot and wounded a Palestinian young man in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, as rampage continued elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Hamas leadership in Gaza reaffirmed commitment to previously-signed national unity deals. These stories and more are coming up,, Stay tuned.

The News Cast

Early on Wednesday morning in the Al-Khader village on the outskirts of Bethlehem city, Israeli soldiers, ransacked the home of a young Palestinian man and wounded him, as they were randomly shooting.

Also in Bethlehem - the soldiers detained another man after searching his home in the Deheisha refugee camp to the south of the city.

In Hebron, the Israeli troops conducted house-to-house search, mainly in al Fawwar and al Arroub refugee camps, kidnapping five civilians.

The number of Hebron detainees rounded up by Israeli soldiers today increased to 42 for this month, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

Thennaba village, on the outskirts of Tulkarem, was also invaded earlier today by Israeli troops and at least two people were reportedly detained.

In another part of the Palestinian homeland, the Gaza Strip, the ruling Hamas party reaffirmed on Wednesday its commitment to the Mecca national unity agreement, signed in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca in February 2007.

In a letter, delivered to the Saudi King Abdullah Ben Abdulaziz, the Palestinian Prime Minister of Hamas, Ismael Haniyeh, reiterated commitment to the Saudi-brokered deal, as national unity talks are underway in Cairo.

Meanwhile today, Hamas' local leader in Gaza, Ismael Radwan, told local news agencies that his party will regard Mahmoud Abbas as 'illegitimate Palestinian president' after January 2009 which, in actuality, is the end of Abbas' term in office.

Radwan confirmed that his party is currently considering a number of options for the upcoming period.

In Israel on Wednesday, foreign minister and winner of the ruling Kadima party's elections, Tzipi Livni, is set to meet with the Israeli defense minister and leader of the Labor party, Ehud Barak.

Livni will discuss the formation of a coalition government with Barak who earlier praised her for a comment she made, in which she said that the Labor Party is “an important coalition partner.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated earlier this week that the Palestinians would continue peace negotiations with the new government, despite the resignation of his Annapolis conference's partner, Ehud Olmert.

Some commentators believe that Olmert's resignation would hamper reaching a two-state solution by the end of this year, in accordance with the last November's Washington-sponsored Annapolis peace conference.

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. This report has been brought to you by Rami Al-Meghari, and George Rishmawi