In the Occupied Territories, the Israeli military siege on Nablus is in its fifth day. Earlier today Israeli forces traded gunfire with Palestinian militants in a mosque in the Faraa refugee camp. Dozens of people have been arrested while the Nablus television station has been shut down. Meanwhile in Jenin, hundreds of Palestinians gathered Wednesday for the funeral of three Palestinians killed earlier in the day. Israel says two of the dead were responsible for a failed suicide bombing attempt on Tel Aviv last week. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Israel is trying to disrupt the Palestinian unity agreement.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh: “It has become clear that this Israeli escalation, whether through the repeated incursions on Nablus or the assassination of Palestinian leaders of the resistance, is directly tied with the Israeli refusal of the Mecca agreement which cemented the national unity government on the basis of Palestinian consensus.”