In the West Bank, Israeli troops invade Nablus, killing two. In the Gaza Strip meanwhile, the Hamas movement has supported * calls for the UN to withdraw from the Quartet group. These stories and more coming up. Stay tuned.

The West Bank

Two Palestinians, al-Aqsa Brigades leader Basem Abu Seriya, and an elderly Palestinian man were killed in an Israeli invasion of the northern West Bank city of Nablus in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The al-Aqsa brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, announced the death of Abu Seriya several hours after the resistance fighter was injured by Israeli army gunfire. The elderly Palestinian man, later identified as Abed Shaker al-Wazeer, 70, was killed in clashes that erupted after the man had been forced from his home.

During the attack troops kidnapped at least 4 Palestinians from different areas of Nablus. In all, at least ten Palestinians were abducted from different parts of the West Bank in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Elsewhere, one civilian was shot and injured, and one ho use demolished, when the Israeli army invaded the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia on Monday night. **Local sources reported that at least four bulldozers demolished the home of Basheer Khadraj, who is currently imprisoned in an Israeli detention facility. **The injured bystander was later identified as Yahia Mohammad Abu Awwad, 20.
A Palestinian farmer suffered head wounds after he was attacked by illegal Israeli settlers near the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday. The victim, along with several others farmers, was attacked with rocks as he harvested olives near the illegal Israeli settlement of Kedumim. The man was transferred to a hospital in Nablus for medical treatment.
The Gaza Strip

Egyptian security forces on Tuesday discovered two separate tunnels thought to be used for smuggling weapons, goods and people into the Gaza Strip. The tunnels were found near the Gaza border, and contained a quantity of heroin, a cache of ammunition, and one bomb, security sources reported. Three Palestinians were arrested in connection with the incident.

Also on Tuesday, Israeli forces invaded the Juhr al-Deik area, located in the central Gaza Strip, razing arable lands and kidnapping a number of civilians.
The Hamas movement on Tuesday welcomed the comments made by John Dugard, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, regarding the withdrawal of the United Nations from the Quartet. *Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesperson for Hamas, welcomed the bold statement and called on Palestinian officials and Arab countries to take an equally bold stance over perceived international bias against the Palestinian people.
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.