RAMALLAH, Wednesday, December 2, 2020 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech as the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People met to observe the annual International Solidarity Day dominated the front page headlines in Wednesday’s issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies.

Abbas was reported in al-Quds, al-Ayyam and al-Hayat stressing that the Palestinian people will remain on their land, and will never surrender to oppression and injustice, pursuing their epic and legitimate resistance against this colonial occupation.

He was also quoted in al-Hayat al-Jadida stating: “Indeed, it is time for the international community to take the necessary practical measures to translate international consensus into reality ]and to reject colonialist policies that have only intensified during the pandemic[.

He was also quoted stressing that “international law remains the cornerstone of the multilateral rules‑based order” and calling on the UN Secretary-General António Guterres to “undertake preparations early in 2021 to convene an international conference with full authority involving all concerned parties, ]so as to launch a genuine, meaningful peace process based on international law[. 

It is worth noting that Palestine’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations Riyad Mansour delivered the speech on behalf of President Abbas.

On the other hand, al-Quds opted to highlight the authorization of the seizure of large tracts of Palestinian land lying between East Jerusalem and Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, declaring it “state land” and the property of Israel.

It added that the court’s ruling opens the way for the expansion of Israeli colonial settlements and is a cancellation of the Jordanian regularization procedures.

Al-Ayyam said in this regard that the court’s ruling would legalize colonial settlement outposts, north of Jerusalem.

The report originally appeared in the Israeli Haaretz daily under the title Top Court Green Lights Israel Land Claim in Ruling That Could Pave Way for Legalizing West Bank Outposts.

Al-Quds added that the Israeli occupation authorities approved the construction of 1,481 new settler colonial units and the establishment of “nature reserves” in the West Bank.

The ongoing demolitions of Palestinian houses and structures as a means to carry out ethnic cleansing also hit the front page headlines.

Al-Ayyam said that the Israeli occupation authorities tore down a house and a number of structures in the West Bank, and al-Hayat al-Jadida described the demolitions as “large-scale”.

Al-Quds elaborated that the occupation authorities demolished six Palestinian-owned houses and structures in Jerusalem and Nablus districts.

According to al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida, Israeli forces seized eight Palestinian-owned vacuum trucks in Eizariya town, southeast of occupied Jerusalem.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida said that the occupation authorities commenced the razing of Palestinian land to make room for the construction of a new colonial settlement, south of Jerusalem.

Al-Ayyam added that Israeli settlers razed large tracts of land belonging to Jalud and Qaryut villages, south and southeast of Nablus city.

Moreover, al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida said that Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and the Representative of the EU to Palestine Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff launched the Palestinian-European Investment Bank Platform.

The dailies said that 2,536 Palestinians contracted Covid-19 and 16 others died of it in the occupied territories, marking the highest daily infections count since the pandemic outbreak.

Al-Quds added that 1,032 Palestinian Covid-19 patients recovered in the occupied territories.

Al-Ayyam said that among the 2,536 new confirmed cases, 815 cases were recorded in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida said that a number of Jenin-district towns are placed under partial lockdown to fight the outbreak of the pandemic.

Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that four Palestinians contracted the virus and two others died of it in Turkey.

Al-Quds published a column for former Prime Minister Salam Fayyad titled Israel’s move to annex the West Bank is bolstered by the US decision to label Israeli settlement products as “Made in Israel”.

Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Riyad Malki was reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida calling on countries all over the world to recognize the State of Palestine.

He made his call during a speech he delivered by the video conference before the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia’s (ESCWA) meeting in Beirut.

K.F.