Israeli military kidnaps a Hamas leader in the West Bank and troops invade villages near Nablus, these stories and more coming up, stay tuned.

Israeli military kidnapped a senior Hamas West Bank leader Wednesday night in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Palestinian media sources said that Sheikh Hassan Yousef, one of prominent leaders of Hamas and a member of the Palestinian Parliament was kidnapped by Israeli soldiers.

Yousef was released from Israeli jail two weeks ago after serving a five-year sentence.

On his part, Salim Al-Za'noun head of the Palestinian national Council condemned the kidnapping of Yousef saying that this is a grave violation of diplomatic regulations and law. He demanded Israel to immediately release him and all other Palestinian members of Parliament.
There are at least 20 Palestinian members of Parliament held in Israeli jails, in addition to 8000 other prisoners.

An Israeli military force invaded, on Thursday morning, the village of Al-Arqa west of Jenin, Palestinian media sources reported. Troops patrolled the village going through the allies and the main squares and beefed up its forces in the surrounding villages.

Troops also setup and military check post outside of the village Arraba, south of Jenin. Eyewitnesses reported that dozens of Israeli vehicles arrived into the area and patrolled the villages near the West Bank city of Tubas.

Local residents expressed concerns regarding this heavy military presence, however, no clashes or arrests have been reported.

Israeli military has been on high alert as the United Nations General Assembly meeting in September is approaching. Israel is expecting several demonstrations in the occupied West Bank after the UN meeting, where the Palestinians will request a UN recognition of an independent Palestinian State on the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

Major General Adnan Al-Damieri, spokesperson of the Palestinian security forces said that the PA will not allow any form of violence in the protests or the support demonstrations in September, adding that the PA commits to maintaining nonviolent demonstrations.

Israel on the other hand, has been training the West Bank settlers to encounter Palestinian demonstrators and equipped them with tear-gas and rubber coated steel bullets. Settlers are generally armed with hand guns and automatic rifles.
Palestinian officials said Israel will create a mess in September by arming the settlers, in order to obstruct the Palestinian Authority's efforts to go to the UN.

That was some of the news from Palestine Today, for more updates, please visit our website at www.imemc.org. Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. This report has been brought to you by Hussam Qassis and me, George Rishmawi.