RAMALLAH, Tuesday, December 15, 2020 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas’ visit to Qatar dominated the front page headlines in Tuesday’s issue of the three mainstream Palestinian Arabic dailies.

Al-Quds reported that the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani affirmed the Palestinian people’s right to establish its state, with Jerusalem as its capital.

Al-Ayyam said that President Abbas briefed the Emir of Qatar on the latest developments on the Palestinian arena.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida added in this regard that President Abbas expressed appreciation of Qatar’s stance in support of the Palestinian people.

The Israeli occupation authorities’ encroachment upon a historic Islamic cemetery in Jerusalem also hit the front page headlines in the dailies.

Al-Quds said that the occupation authorities bulldozed the entrance and wall of al-Yusufiya Islamic cemetery in Jerusalem.

Al-Ayyam elaborated that the occupation authorities demolished a part of the wall encircling the cemetery as a prelude to appropriate it as a path leading to a “biblical park”.

According to al-Hayat al-Jadida, Jordan condemned the Israeli violations in Jerusalem.

Moreover, al-Quds said that the Israeli occupation authorities approved a plan to construct thousands of new colonial settler units in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Safafa and al-Walaja village, west of Bethlehem.

Covering the latest Covid-19 statistics, the dailies said that 1,564 Palestinians contracted the virus and 28 others died of it in the occupied Palestinian territories (the West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip).

Al-Quds added in this regard that 2,145 Covid-19 patients recovered.

Among the new 1,564 confirmed cases, al-Ayyam said that 239 cases were recorded in Nablus governorate and 224 others in Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam also reported four new confirmed cases among Palestinians in Brazil.

Furthermore, the dailies highlighted Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh’s comments on several issues, including the coronavirus vaccine and the accusations over incitement in the content of Palestinian textbooks.

Prime Minister Shtayyeh was reported in al-Quds stressing that the Palestinian leadership would never give up what it has upheld in negotiations with Israel.

He was also reported in the dailies saying that the Covid-19 vaccine, which Palestine expects to start arriving early next year, will not be compulsory and that his government would adopt the WHO vaccination standard.

He was also reported in al-Ayyam announcing that the government would pay the remainder of the public servants’ arrears before the end of December.

According to al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida, Israeli forces rounded up nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman and an injured minor, in multiple West Bank raids.

They added that Israeli occupation authorities dismantled two Palestinian-owned residential structures in al-Za’atra area, near az-Za'ayyem town, northeast of Jerusalem.

They also reported that the occupation authorities handed 12 Palestinian families orders to remove their residential tents in Khirbet Zanota, east of the town of al-Thahriyeh, south of Hebron.

According to al-Quds, the second International Conference on Entrepreneurship and Technology in Palestine, which was held via the video conference, was concluded.

Al-Quds said that the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) finds it difficult to disburse the salaries of its staff for December.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported the Conference of Supervisors of Palestinian Affairs in Arab Host Countries warning of the severity of the financial crisis gripping UNRWA.

Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Riyad Malki was reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida stating: “our duty is to protect ability of International Criminal Court (ICC) to fulfill its responsibilities with integrity and strength.”

Al-Hayat al-Jadida said that the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture has adopted a set of stringent precautions following the outbreak of avian flue in Israel.

It printed a translation for the Associated Press feature story Christmas opens new market for small Gaza sewing business.

Al-Ayyam reported Hamas officials saying that they have informed intermediaries Hamas rejection of linking the issue of Israeli soldiers to any other portfolio.

Regionally, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov was reported in al-Quds stating that normalization of ties between a number of Arab states and Israel should not be at the expense of the Palestinians.

K.F.