RAMALLAH, Thursday, December 17, 2020 (WAFA) – The three Palestinian Arabic dailies published today in the occupied territories highlighted two pandemics that are now ravaging Palestine: coronavirus and the illegal Israeli settlements.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida dailies highlighted the surge in number of deaths and new cases related to coronavirus in Palestine and said 26 people have died of the disease and 2525 new cases were recorded.
Al-Ayyam said the Gaza Strip is going through the worst in the pandemic with 1015 new cases recorded in one day.
Al-Quds also reported on the corona toll but lower on the page while it highlighted the surge in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as settlers’ hooliganism against Palestinian civilians.
It said that the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, has approved in first reading a draft bill that gives legal status to the illegal Israeli settlements before making them legal as per Israeli law.
The rainy weather conditions and the flooding in some areas were highlighted on the front page of al-Ayyam daily.
Al-Ayyam also quoted the United Nations Relief and Works Agency /UNRWA/ for Palestine refugees warning that the crisis of paying salaries for its employees is not over as only a trickle of financial support has reached the humanitarian agency.
It said the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has named Tor Wennesland, a Norwegian diplomat, to replace Nickolay Mladenov as special envoy for the Middle East Peace Process.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida said President Mahmoud Abbas has called his Indonesian counterpart to express his appreciation for Indonesia’s firm support for Palestine and his refusal to normalize relations with Israel.
It also said the UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution affirming the Palestinian peoples’ right to self-determination.
Al-Quds said Americans have filed lawsuits against charitable Qatari organizations for supposedly supporting Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
It said an Israeli Knesset committee is preparing to receive thousands of tourists from the United Arab Emirates and Morocco.
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