RAMALLAH, Sunday, April 18, 2021 (WAFA) – News about Israel’s banning of a press conference of Palestinian candidates running for the upcoming Palestinian Legislative Council hit the front pages of the three Arabic Palestinian dailies on Sunday.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida, al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that Israeli forces banned on Saturday candidates running for the upcoming elections from holding a press conference in occupied Jerusalem, before proceeding to detain three of them.

The candidates were scheduled to hold a press conference at St George Hotel Jerusalem to affirm the right of the Palestinians in the occupied capital to cast their votes in the upcoming elections and the mechanisms needed to do so before Israeli police detained three of the candidates: Ashraf A’war, Nasser Qous, and Ratiba Natsha.

Al-Ayyam and al-Quds said that two people were injured early Saturday morning in Israeli air raids on the besieged Gaza Strip as several areas were hit with missiles, destroying the sites and causing damage to civilian homes.

The papers said that Israeli settlers torched dozens of years-old olive trees in the town of Beit Fajjar, south of the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida and al-Ayyam reported that the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union reaffirmed its call to support Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida said US congresswoman Betty McCollum introduced a bill to exercise increased oversight on US assistance to Israel as part of efforts to ensure no US tax dollars contribute to alleged civil and human rights abuses against Palestinians.

The dailies said Minister of Health Mai Alkaila announced yesterday that 1618 new coronavirus infections, 28 deaths and 1773 recoveries were registered in Palestine.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida said Lebanese singer Rabih Al Asmar released a song titled “Shams al-Hurriya” dedicated to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

K.T/M.N