RAMALLAH, August 24, 2015 (WAFA) – The three Palestinian Arabic dailies, al-Hayat al-Jadida, al-Quds, and al-Ayyam, focused in their Monday issue on President Mahmoud Abbas’ resignation from his post as chairman of the Executive Commission of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

The three papers said Abbas along with nine other members of the Executive Committee resigned in an effort to “reactivate” it. Despite of the resignation, the dailies said Abbas will remain in office as President of the Palestinian Authority.

Al-Quds said Hamas considered Abbas’ call on the PLO National Council to convene a “coup” on the reconciliation agreement reached in April 2014, saying such a move proves Abbas’ tendency towards being “subjective” in decision making.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida also reported that Abbas announced, during a press conference in Ramallah on Sunday, his intent to visit Iran, however no date was set. This came after Iran and the PA discussed unilateral relations and their interest in establishing normal relations between the two countries.

In a different subject, the dailies said a number of Palestinian activists suffocated by teargas on Sunday after Israeli soldiers suppressed a peaceful protest near Bethlehem, which was held to denounce Israel’s confiscation of some 3,500 dunums of land through an alteration of the Separation Barrier’s route in the area.

The dailies also highlighted the opening of the school year in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, saying more than a million female and male students returned to school for the new year. This latest development comes after UNRWA announced a possible delay in starting the school year due to persisting finical crisis that were later addressed by the donations of several countries, including the European Union and Saudi Arabia.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported on the Israeli Prosecution informing the administration of the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashdod that even though former hunger striking detainee Mohammad Allan’s detention without charge or trial was suspended, he is not permitted to leave the hospital.

The paper published another story saying Allan’s hunger strike has resulted in numerous calls from within the Israeli community to ban the use of detention without charge or trial against Palestinians, known as administrative detention.

Al-Quds said an Israeli company has began advertising the third building in a new settlement project in the illegal settlement of Har Homa, built on Abu Ghniem’s confiscated land which originally belongs to Palestinians.  

M.N/M.H