RAMALLAH, Tuesday, March 24, 2020 (WAFA) – Efforts to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic in Palestine with the government measures restricting movement were reported on the front page of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies today.
The main front-page story headline in al-Ayyam said: “Coronavirus cases throughout the country stable and government takes new measures to stop its spread.”
It had a picture of mounting Palestinian policemen in a shut-down Ramallah yesterday and said in a story that movement in West Bank roads was curtailed as police were deployed at entrances to cities and in their centers.
Al-Quds headlined: “Milhem (government spokesman): All business activities will stop at nigh expect bakeries and pharmacies.”
The main story headline in al-Hayat al-Jadida highlighted Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh saluting residents for observing the emergency measures and their understanding and cooperation to preserve public safety.
The paper also said Shtayyeh walked the Ramallah streets to inspect the situation in the city with the latest lockdown decision and it also highlighted the statements from the government spokesman on the night closure decision.
It said the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails locked their sections and refused to accept meals to protest the Israeli prisons’ failure to take measures to prevent spread of coronavirus in the jails.
Al-Ayyam said Israeli soldiers threw a sick Palestinian worker at a military checkpoint in the north of the West Bank because he was suspected to contracting coronavirus.
This step, said al-Quds, was condemned by the Palestinian government for the way Israel treats Palestinians who work in its establishments in times of dire need.
Al-Quds also said the Israeli Justice Ministry rejected implementing any measures that would divide the occupied East Jerusalem from West Jerusalem over coronavirus and stop movement of people between the two sections of the city.
It said an Israeli organization called for removing the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip and to allow vital material into the besieged enclave. It also quoted the Israeli rights organization, B’Tselem, saying that Gaza is near a humanitarian catastrophe as a result of the Israeli occupation.
It also said Israeli forces raided Palestinian villages in the north of West Bank, razed Palestinian-owned land between Qalandia and Rafat villages near Ramallah and attacked a youth in the northern Jordan Valley.
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