RAMALLAH, August 16, 2011 (WAFA) – The Syrian army’s bombardment of the Palestinian Ramil refugee camp in the port city of Latakia, which left a number of Palestinians dead and forced thousands to flee the camp, was the highlight of Tuesday’s three Palestinian Arabic dailies.

The papers also highlighted Israel’s decision to build 277 housing units in the settlement of Ariel, in the northern West Bank. Al-Quds said the decision is part of a plan to divide the northern West Bank into four cantons.

Abbas’ visit to Bosnia and his meetings with officials there was highlighted on the front page of the three dailies. They also reported on an article Abbas had published in the Saudi Al-Watan newspaper, in which he explained his reasons for going to the United Nations.

The dailies reported on allegations that Hamas forces arrested a journalist in Gaza, after some of his friends said he was missing for two days and assumed he was arrested by Hamas militias.

The papers said the Arab League’s follow-up committee on the peace process will meet in the Qatari capital, Doha, on August 23 at the ministerial level and in the presence of President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the Palestinians’ steps to attain UN recognition.

Resumption of the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian army’s operation in northern Sinai against Islamist extremists, the explosions that rocked a number of Iraqi cities and killed dozens of people were also reported on the front pages of the dailies.

An editorial in Al-Quds touched on the situation in Syria, warning that it is gradually falling into one of the worst scenarios of fighting: a civil war, unless the Assad regime puts an end to the oppression of its people and starts introducing real reforms.

M.A./F.J.