RAMALLAH, Saturday, 06 February 2021 (WAFA) – The decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in which it said that the Court's territorial jurisdiction in the Situation in Palestine extends to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as the cold-blooded murder of a Palestinian man by an Israeli settler in a village near Ramallah dominated the front-page headlines of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies published today.
The dailies gave the ICC ruling top priority on their front page and published Palestinian and international reactions to the ruling, with the Palestinians welcoming it as a victory to justice, while Israel and its ally, the United States denouncing it.
The papers also said an Israeli settler shot dead a Palestinian man identified as Khaled Nofal, 34, and a father of a four-year-old boy, near the village of Ras Karkar, northwest of Ramallah. They said Nofal was unarmed and the settler, who took over village land by force, shot him dead in cold blood.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida daily said the Palestinian presidency strongly condemned the daily Israeli killings of Palestinians in the occupied territories, while al-Quds daily said Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has condemned the murder of Nofal.
The three papers also reported on the Israeli army crackdown on the peaceful anti-occupation Palestinian protests in the occupied territories and the large number of injuries caused by Israeli army gunfire, rubber bullets, and teargas.
Al-Ayyam daily said that while the US Senate voted overwhelmingly to keep the US embassy in Jerusalem, the State Department called on Israel to end its illegal settlement activities and demolition of homes in the occupied Palestinian territories, remarks that were welcomed by the Palestinians, according to the newspaper.
The paper also said the UN said Israel demolished or seized 69 Palestinian-owned structures in the occupied territories over the past two weeks.
Al-Quds daily said the Israeli District Court in Jerusalem has ruled to freeze an Israeli settlement project in the center and business district of occupied East Jerusalem until it makes if final decision on the objections to the plan.
Coronavirus was also covered on the front page of the three dailies, which said that five people have died of the disease yesterday and 722 new cases were confirmed in Palestine.
The papers also reported on the protests by the Palestinians in Israel against government and police apathy regarding rise in crime and violence in the Arab towns in Israel.
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