RAMALLAH, July 14, 2015 (WAFA) – Palestinian Arabic dailies highlighted on Tuesday the attendance of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians at al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Monday to mark the Muslim holy night of Lailat al-Qadr.

They said hundreds of thousands of Muslim worshipers headed to Jerusalem to mark Lailet al-Qadr despite the Israeli restrictions, which allowed entrance only for women above the age of 30 and men above 50.

Laylat al-Qadr, which means ‘Night of Destiny’, marks the night when the holy book of Islam, the Quran, was first revealed to Prophet Mohammed.

In a different subject, al-Ayyam and al-Quds said the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem approved the construction of a settlement neighborhood and a hotel on the ruins of an ancient Muslim cemetery in the city of Jerusalem.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida and al-Ayyam said senior PLO official Saeb Erekat assumed his duty as a new chairman of the PLO Executive Committee, a few days after President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed former chairman Yasser Abed Rabbo from the post.

Al-Quds quoted Israeli daily Haaretz , which reported that Israel  is ready to launch a European Union dialogue on the situation in West Bank and Gaza.

Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said two Palestinians were killed on Monday when a family dispute erupted into violence in the west Bethlehem town of Beit Jala; a man was killed and a woman died after she fell from a building that was set ablaze by rioters.

The three dailies said Israeli police rearrested former prisoner Khader Adnan for entering Jerusalem, only a day after he was released as part of a deal that saw Adnan ending his 55-days of hunger strike in return for his release.

Al-Ayyam quoted a report by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, an Israeli human rights group, which said that the use of sponge-tipped bullets by Israeli police in Jerusalem has caused around 12 Palestinians, including seven children, to lose their eyesight.

Al-Ayyam reported on Israeli “Defense” Minister Moshe Ya’alon as refusing to launch any talks with Hamas to secure the release of an Israeli Ethiopian and a Bedouin, who were captivated by Hamas Faction in Gaza, saying Hamas must release them without preconditions.

M.N./T.R.