RAMALLAH, May 14, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli forces’ quelling of weekly Friday protests across the West Bank and Gaza hit the front page headlines in the dailies.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported that Israeli forces shot and injured several Palestinians and detained several others during peaceful weekly Friday rallies.
Among the detainees, al-Quds added, were a foreign peace activist and a prominent Palestinian peace activist, Abdullah Abu Rahma, who was beaten before being detained. It added that during the rallies, dozens of Palestinian demonstrators suffocated from excessive tear gas inhalation.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida explained that the demonstrators commemorated the 68th anniversary of the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe) in rallies in the Qalqilia village of Kafr Qaddum, the Ramallah village of Bilin and east of al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
It added that Israeli forces suppressed a Palestinian cycling tournament in the Ramallah town of Bilin.
Al-Quds reported that Israeli settlers stormed an archeological site in Kafrit plains, southwest of Jenin, in the northern West Bank.
Furthermore, the ongoing French efforts to build support for an international peace conference to restart Palestinian-Israeli talks and French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Prime Minister Manuel Valls’ visits to Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories also hit the front page headlines in the dailies.
Al-Ayyam reported in this regard that France is making active efforts in order to convince Israel to positively deal with French ideas regarding convening the international peace conference.
The three dailies reported that Israel reiterated its opposition to the French peace bid. Al-Ayyam highlighted Israel’s demand that the French bid includes ‘Jewish state’ recognition.
Regionally, the three dailies highlighted the funeral of Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine in the Lebanese capital after he was killed in an explosion in Syria this week.
Finally, al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Venezuela’s UN Ambassador Rafael Ramirez apologized to Israel over remarks suggesting that Israel was seeking a “final solution” for the Palestinians.
K.F.
