RAMALLAH, Thursday, August 13, 2020 (WAFA) – The Palestinian government’s decision to further ease the coronavirus lockdown together with the ongoing demolitions of Palestinian property as part of the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians hit the front-page headlines in today's Palestinian Arabic dailies.

Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida said that the government announced new measures to cope with the novel coronavirus pandemic.

As part of the new set of measures, al-Ayyam said that the government decided to cancel the weekend general lockdown.

Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida added that the government also decided to allow congregate Friday prayers outdoors provided that worshipers comply with all precautionary health measures.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida also reported in this regard that businesses and enterprises would be allowed to reopen during the weekend provided that they comply with all public safety measures.

They added that the government, however, decided to maintain the ban on all gatherings, including wedding parties and condolence gatherings.

Highlighting the spread of the pandemic, the Health Ministry was reported in the dailies announcing that 499 Palestinians tested positive for the highly contagious virus and a child died of it in the last 24 hours.

Among the 499 new cases, al-Ayyam elaborated that 219 cases were recorded in Jerusalem district, including 125 in Jerusalem city, and 140 others in Hebron district.

According to al-Hayat al-Jadida, 346 recovery cases were recorded in the occupied territories in the last 24 hours.

According to al-Quds, a Palestinian woman died due to the virus in Saudi Arabia.

Moving to the issue of demolitions and land grab, al-Hayat al-Jadida said that Israeli forces and settlers stepped up their attacks, taking the form of demolitions, land leveling and torching farmlands.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam elaborated that Israeli occupation authorities forced a Palestinian to tear down his house in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukaber.

Al-Quds added that the occupation authorities demolished a wall under construction in Qalandia, north of Jerusalem.

According to al-Ayyam, settlers fenced off large swaths of Palestinian-owned grazing land in the northern Jordan Valley.

It added that Israeli bulldozers razed large tracts of Palestinian-owned land in the Salfit-district villages of Iskaka and Yasuf.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam printed a photo showing bulldozers leveling land to make room for the expansion of the colonial settlement of Avnei Hefetz, northeast of Tulkarem city.

According to al-Quds, 193 settlers forced their way into Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Moving to the situation in Gaza, al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that Israeli fighter jets pounded several sites across the besieged coastal enclave.

They added that the airstrikes were conducted amid a surge in the launching of incendiary balloons from the Strip onto southern Israel.

They said that the Israeli occupation authorities slashed the fishing zone for Gaza from 15 to eight nautical miles.

According to al-Quds, an Israeli court ruled in favor of preventing the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem from doing any work on 25 dunams of Palestinian land in Wadi al-Rababa area in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.

Moreover, the dailies reported that Fatah Central Committee held a meeting in Ramallah.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida elaborated that the committee expressed appreciation of President Mahmoud Abbas’ positions rejecting the Israeli policy of colonial settlement and annexation.

Al-Quds reported the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics announcing that Palestinian youth between 18 and 29 years of age in the occupied territories account for about a fifth of the total population.

Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee Saeb Erekat was reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida stating that accountability and international sanctions on Israel are essential for deterring the Israeli occupation crimes.

Finally, al-Ayyam spotlighted an Israeli scheme threatening to demolish 40 percent of the houses of the Palestinian citizens of Israel in Lydda.

K.F./M.K.