RAMALLAH, Sunday, January 19, 2020 (WAFA) – Al-Hayat al-Jadida and al-Quds dailies focused today on a call made by 34 bishops from Europe and North America on their governments to insist on the application of international law in Israel and Palestine and to recognize the State of Palestine.

They said the bishops of the Holy Land Coordination, who had just concluded a visit to Palestine, said they were inspired by the enduring resilience of the people they met in Gaza, East Jerusalem and Ramallah despite the worsening situation.

Reporting on a different subject, al-Ayyam focused in its main story on the stabbing incident of an illegal Israeli settler in Hebron, south of the West Bank, on Saturday. The incident was also reported by al-Quds.

Al-Ayyam and al-Quds said Israeli police detained yesterday a Palestinian woman at the Damascus Gate in occupied Jerusalem, after she allegedly attempted to stab Israeli policemen.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida quoted in its main story a statement by President Mahmoud Abbas as saying: “the Christmas is a national holiday for all the people of Palestine”.  The statement was also reported by al-Ayyam.

Al-Ayyam said the family of Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails, Walid Hanatsheh, published shocking pictures of him with scars and bruises across his body as a result of the brutal torture he sustained by Israeli interrogators during his investigation.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida and al-Ayyam said a Palestinian man was killed and another one injured yesterday in a mysterious explosion which rocked the city of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.

The dailies said Israeli Minister of “Defense” Neftali Bennet ordered a ban on the entry of Israeli leftist and pro-Palestinian activists to the West Bank.

Al-Ayyam said for the third time in one week, Israel opened yesterday dams collecting rain water towards lands east of Gaza City, flooding hundreds of dunums of agricultural land.

M.N