RAMALLAH, Tuesday, May 5, 2020 (WAFA) – Announcement of 10 new coronavirus cases in Palestine yesterday and the speech of President Mahmoud Abbas through video conference to the Non-Aligned Movement online meeting were highlighted on the front page of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies published today.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam highlighted the corona cases and said that most of the cases were in the Hebron district in the south of the West Bank.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported also on the corona cases but made the president’s speech its main front-page story and quoted him saying that if Israel goes ahead and annexes occupied Palestinian territory, then the Palestinians will be absolved of all the agreements reached with it.

The other two dailies also used the same quote from the president and also said that President Abbas has issued a decree declaring a new state of emergency in Palestine for 30 days to continue efforts to contain the coronavirus disease.

The papers also quoted Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh stressing the importance of upholding health regulations in fighting coronavirus as the government continues plans to ease the lockdown.

Al-Ayyam said one American-Palestinian has died of coronavirus and six new cases among the Palestinian communities in the US were confirmed.

It said the Finance Ministry has decided not to deduct any money from the April paycheck of the public employees due to Ramadan and the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday and that the salaries will be in banks today.

It also quoted Saeb Erekat, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), rejecting Israeli plans to end the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in occupied East Jerusalem.

It also had a report on the problems of teachers in private schools in the West Bank who apparently were not paid since the schools were closed over coronavirus in early March.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida had a report which said that loses of businesses in Ramallah have reached $40 million since the start of corona disease.

Al-Quds had a report on the situation of Palestinian businesses in occupied East Jerusalem and said their situation is disastrous due to corona lockdown.

It said Israeli forces destroyed structures in Jordan Valley, injured a youth in Jericho and detained eight Palestinians in West Bank.

M.K.