RAMALLAH, July 21, 2018 (WAFA) – The critical escalation during the day on Friday in Gaza that left four Palestinians and one Israeli soldier dead was the highlight of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies on Saturday.
While al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported in their main front page story headline on the developments saying four Palestinians were killed, dozens wounded in Israeli air and raids and one Israeli soldier was killed on the Gaza border when shot by a Palestinian sniper, al-Hayat al-Jadida said the violent Israeli escalation aimed at aborting the reconciliation.
The paper said President Mahmoud Abbas contacted regional and world leaders to contain the crisis as Israeli leaders threated an all-out war against Gaza. However, the crisis was contained after a ceasefire agreement was reached by midnight following intervention by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United Nations, according to al-Ayyam in an after midnight update.
The papers printed pictures showing the explosions that rocked the Gaza Strip all night from the Israeli strikes.
Al-Quds said Washington has offered Hamas a large sum of money in return for dropping its arms and ending its resistance of Israel. It quoted Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri describing the American administration as mouthpiece for Israel.
In addition to the Israeli escalation in Gaza, the papers said that Israeli forces and settlers attacked Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank participating in protests against settlement activities.
Al-Quds said the Friday sermon at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem focused on the rise in intrusion by fanatic Jewish groups into the Muslim holy compound, calling on people to defend their mosque from the fanatics who want to turn it into a Jewish temple.
Al-Ayyam said Jewish groups declared that boycotting Israel is not anti-Semitic.
It quoted Fatah leader Azzam al-Ahmad denying the existence of an Egyptian paper on reconciliation with Hamas, but rather a draft proposal for a mechanism to implement the previous agreements.
The papers reported as well on the developments in Syria and Iraq.
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