RAMALLAH, May 12, 2012 (WAFA) – The three Palestinian Arabic dailies Saturday focused on a letter by the hundreds of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails stressing their persistence to continue the strike and threatening further “unprecedented” measures.

The prime headline in al-Ayyam newspaper reported that seven prisoners who have been on an open-ended hunger strike for over two months are facing death, featuring calls by the World Health Organization urging Israel to give quick and suitable health care to hunger-strikers, including their transfer to civilian hospitals.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida and al-Ayyam printed photos of a demonstration in solidarity with the striking prisoners in front of the Dome of the Rock in al-Haram al-Sharif compound in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Al-Quds said the Planning and Building Committee in the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem is studying three potential plans to build 2242 housing units in Gilo settlement in East Jerusalem, as well as reported on a plan to build 14 housing units in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

The three dailies reported on a 5.5-magnitude earthquake that hit the Palestinian Territory on Friday night, causing no injuries.

Al-Quds highlighted the Israeli assaults against the weekly non-violent demonstrations against settlements and the Apartheid Wall, and in solidarity with the striking prisoners across the West Bank, leading to several cases of suffocation among protesters and the arson of several dunums of agricultural land planted with olive trees.

The daily printed a picture of several Israeli soldiers arresting a 16-year old Palestinian activist in Hebron. The photo showed an Israeli soldier pressuring his knee on the activist’s neck.

R.Q.