RAMALLAH, April 18, 2012 (WAFA) – The main theme dominating Wednesday’s issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies featured the Palestinian popular and official rallies marking the Palestinian Prisoner Day across the Palestinian Territory.

The prime headline in al-Ayyam featured Palestinian demonstrations in the cities of Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarm, Qalqilya and Gaza expressing their support for the prisoners who started on Tuesday an open-ended hunger strike to demand better prison conditions and the release of all administrative detainees.

Al-Quds reported on the weekly cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, during which it called on the United Nations to exert serious pressure on Israel to release all Palestinian prisoners.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida focused on President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech marking Prisoner Day, stressing that the prisoners issue is on his priority, adding that the Palestinian Authority will ask from High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to implement the convention in the Palestinian territory, especially regarding Palestinian prisoners.

Al-Quds was the only newspaper highlighting that chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat handed on Tuesday evening the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the much-anticipated letter from Abbas, who warned that the Palestinian Authority will not be able to fulfill its commitments but did not threaten to dismantle it.

The daily said that the Palestinian leadership is expecting an Israeli answer within two weeks.

An opinion piece in al-Ayyam newspaper by Ali Jaradat tackled the open-ended hunger strike prisoners started on Tuesday coinciding with the Prisoner Day, calling on Palestinians to support the prisoners in their struggle in Israeli jails and slamming the Israeli practices against them.

R.Q./M.S.