RAMALLAH, June 8, 2017 (WAFA) – The twin attacks in the heart of the Iranian capital, Tehran, and Israeli plans to build 67,000 new housing units in West Bank settlements hit the front page headlines in local Palestinian dailies on Thursday.
The three dailies said the so-called Islamic State organization claimed responsibility for the attacks on Iran’s parliament and Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini, which left 12 people dead.
The dailies also reported the Israeli Settlement Council of the West Bank made a plan to build 67,000 new settler units in the western part of the West Bank.
The plan was reportedly presented by Israeli Housing Minister Yoav Galant to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida added Israeli settlers set up a new outpost on Palestinian lands in the eastern outskirts on Deir Istiya village in the northern West Bank district of Salfit.
Furthermore, al-Hayat al-Jadida and al-Ayyam spotlighted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, in Jerusalem.
They reported Netanyahu stating that Israel would maintain military control and settlements in the West Bank as part of any future deal with Palestinians.
Al-Ayyam added Palestinian Premier Rami Hamdallah met with Haley in Ramallah.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida also covered presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudenieh’s statement in response to Netanyahu’s remarks pledging more settlement construction in the West Bank.
They reported Abu Rudeineh stressing that the state of Palestine would be established free from any settlement and settlers.
Al-Quds said a Palestinian who was shot dead Tuesday evening by Israeli forces during clashes on the borders east of Khan Younes in the besieged Gaza Strip was buried in his hometown.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam added several Palestinians suffocated during clashes with Israeli forces in seam zones to the east of Gaza.
The dailies said Palestinian citizens of Israel observed a general strike in all Palestinian towns in Israel in protest against the Israeli police killing of a resident of Kufr Qassem town in central Israel on Monday night.
Al-Ayyam reported US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert stating Trump has made Middle East peace deal “one of his top priorities.”
It reported Amnesty International calling on the international community to ban the import of all goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements as part of a campaign to mark the 50th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
K.F./M.K.
