RAMALLAH, July 18, 2011 (WAFA) – The three Arabic dailies focused Monday on the escalated and continuous Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Al-Ayyam reported on its front page on the injury of seven Palestinians, including four children, of the same family, along with the damage to houses and shops in an Israeli shelling east of Beit Hanoun, a town north of Gaza. The paper printed a picture of a Palestinian boy searching through the rubble of his house demolished by the Israeli shelling.

Al-Quds prime story featured the Israeli cabinet’s decision to renew putting off for six more months considering family reunification applications by Palestinians inside Israel married to Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. The story reported on the cabinet’s decision to ban issuing residency permits to Palestinians from Gaza.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida’s main story reported on the Syrian army killing of 30 civilians in the city of Homs.

Headlines in al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida featured reports on the medical condition of former Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, following news that he fell into a coma were released by the official Egyptian television on Sunday followed by refutations by the Egyptian health ministry.

Al-Quds editorial tackled the Israeli decision to put off considering family reunification applications. It wondered if this decision had anything to do with the Palestinian plan to seek United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state within 1967 borders in September.

The editorial said that the renewed ban is in line with the Israeli policy that aims to minimize the number of Palestinians living in East Jerusalem and maximize the number of Israeli settlers living there.

R.Q./M.A.