RAMALLAH, Monday, June 22, 2020 (WAFA) – The sharp increase in the novel coronavirus infections in the occupied Palestinian territories dominated the front page headlines in today’s issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies.
The dailies reported Health Minister Mai Alkaila announcing 49 new COVID-19 cases in the West Bank districts of Hebron, Tulkarm and Nablus.
She was also reported in al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida announcing that Nablus Hospital and the Emergency and the Dialysis sections of Hebron Hospital were re-opened.
Hebron Governor Jibrin al-Bakri was reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida announcing that the lockdown imposed on Hebron district includes all aspects of life, except for the ministries dealing with combating the pandemic besides other necessary facilities.
The Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ministry was reported in al-Ayyam confirming that 46 more Palestinians in the diaspora have contracted the virus and another one has died as a result.
Palestinian official warnings against Israel’s looming move to annex large swaths of the West Bank also hit the front page headlines in the dailies.
Secretary-General of Fatah Central Committee Jibril Rajoub was reported in al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida stating that “We will not suffer alone nor die alone” if Israel goes ahead with the annexation move.
He was also reported in al-Ayyam stating that there was a Palestinian national consensus on popular resistance against the annexation move, and that the Palestinian leadership was ready to move to another phase.
According to al-Quds, Qatar provided $1.5 million to support UNRWA’s food aid in Gaza.
The UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) was reported in al-Ayyam warning that the pandemic is spreading among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
The dailies said that Israeli occupation authorities delivered demolition and stop-construction military orders for several structures in the West Bank districts of Hebron and Salfit.
Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida said that Israeli occupation authorities handed a Palestinian from al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem, an order to leave his own land.
The dailies highlighted the expansion of a settler-only bypass road to the west of Bethlehem.
Al-Quds and Al-Ayyam said that two Palestinian brothers were forced to demolish their own home following pressure from the Israeli occupation authorities in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.
According to al-Hayat al-Jadida, Israeli forces detained 20 Palestinians from various parts of the West Bank.
Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida said that Israeli police detained five women and a Waqf guard from Bab al-Rahma prayer area inside Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Russian ambassador to Palestine Gocha Buachidze was reported in al-Quds pledging ongoing support to Palestine.
Al-Quds reported leaders of factions in Gaza agreeing that former Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shallah’s 10-point initiative forms a roadmap to face Israel’s annexation move and the US-touted Mideast plan, dubbed deal of the century.
According to al-Hayat al-Jadida, some of the 270 Palestinians stranded in Egypt due to coronavirus pandemic arrived to Jericho.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida spotlighted AFP’s report Losing sight of the future: Palestinians blinded in one eye, which talks about life of Palestinians who lost their eyes from Israeli army bullets.
K.F. /M.K.
