RAMALLAH, August 4, 2017 (WAFA) – The ceremony to lay a cornerstone for a new neighborhood consisting of 1,100 units in the illegal settlement of Beitar Illit near Bethlehem in the West Bank dominated the headlines in Friday’s issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies.
The dailies said Netanyahu laid the cornerstone to begin the construction of 1,100 new housing units to serve illegal Israeli settlers in the settlement of Beitar Illit, south of Bethlehem.
Al-Ayyam reported on Netanyahu saying his government has done more than any other to support illegal Jewish settlements across the West Bank.
Al-Quds explained this settlement construction plan paves the way for the isolation of Wadi Fukin village, west of Bethlehem, displace its Palestinian residents and “annex” its lands for the benefit of Israeli settlers.
Condemning the plan, presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh was reported in al-Quds and al-Ayyam stating settlement construction is basically illegal and effectively ends the two-state solution.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida main headline read: Israel continues its destructive approach of the two-state solution.
Fatah-Hamas meetings to achieve national reconciliation and unity also hit the front page headlines in the dailies.
The dailies reported on member of Fatah Central Committee Azzam al-Ahmad stating the dissolution of the Hamas-formed administrative committee in charge of running the besieged Gaza Strip would constitute the first step towards ending the division.
Al-Quds also reported on member of Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee Ahmad Majdalani describing the initiative announced by member of Hamas’ political bureau Salah al-Bardawil to achieve reconciliation as a “set of onerous conditions”.
The dailies said Israeli occupation authorities were going to release the bodies of four Palestinians who had been killed by Israeli forces.
They added that Israeli occupation forces notified 23 Palestinian families of their intention to demolish their homes in the Bedouin neighborhood of al-Fheidat to the east of Anata, northeast of Jerusalem.
Al-Ayyam said the Shamasneh family is slated to be evicted from its home in East Jerusalem’s neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Wednesday August 9.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said the Israeli Supreme Court ruled to demolish the family homes of four Palestinians who recently carried out attacks against Israelis in Deir Abu Mashaal village and Silwad town, located respectively to the northwest and northeast of Rasmallah.
The dailies also highlighted simmering tensions over Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem following two weeks of civil nonviolent protests to denounce Israeli tightened measures at the mosque compound.
Al-Quds reported on Palestinian religious and political figures in Jerusalem affirming that the battle over the mosque compound proved that it would remain under Muslim sovereignty. They called on Palestinians to continue to protest Israeli Jewish settlers’ intrusions into the mosque compound.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said over 100 Israeli Jewish settlers forced their way into the mosque compound under heavy police escort.
Furthermore, al-Quds reported that a US Senate committee has passed a bill that would cut off annual US aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Al-Hayat al-Jadida said Palestinian citizens of Israel rallied in protest of Israeli police following the killing of 22-year-old Mahdi al-Saadi last Saturday, noting that a number of protestors were detained.
K.F/M.H
