RAMALLAH, January 4, 2016 (WAFA) – The funeral procession of six Palestinians whose bodies were released by Israel and the shooting of two Israeli soldiers by a suspected Palestinian gunman in Hebron hit the front page headlines in three Palestinian Arabic dailies.

Al-Quds reported that large crowds of Palestinians attended the funeral procession of six Palestinians from the Nablus refugee camp of ‘Asakar, Ramallah villages of silwad and ‘Arura, al-Bireh and the Jerusalem refugee camp of Qalandiya.   

Covering the same theme in its main front page news article, al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that Palestinians in Ramallah attended the funeral procession of five Palestinians whose bodies were released by Israel.

With regards to releasing the bodies of Palestinians withheld by Israel, al-Ayyam reported that the families of four Palestinians, who were fatally shot by Israeli forces during the ongoing unrest that began in early October, have refused to comply with the Israeli preconditions to release the bodies of the four Palestinians.

It is worth mentioning in this respect that Israeli authorities conditioned the release of the bodies of these four Palestinians with their families’ consent to bury them outside the boundaries of the apartheid wall.

Furthermore, the shooting of two Israeli soldiers in Hebron made the front page headlines in the three Palestinian Arabic dailies.

On the other hand, al-Ayyam opted to cover in its main front page news article charging two Israelis with arson and murder of the Dawabsheh family in the Nablus village of Duma.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported in this regard that two Israeli settlers were indicted over the firebomb attack that led to the deaths of the Dawabsheh couple and their toddler in Duma. Al-Ayyam described the perpetrators of the arson attack as two Jewish terrorists.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported in this regard that the Israeli judiciary has published the details of the terrorist crime of Duma and handed murder charges for two Jews.

Furthermore, al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that an extremist Jewish organization, “Lehava” has renewed calls to torch churches in occupied Jerusalem.

The three dailies highlighted remarks made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in in the wake of the Tel Aviv shooting.

He was reported in al-Quds and al-Ayyam as vowing to enforce “noise regulations”, in reference to restricting the use of loudspeakers in mosques.

He was also reported as pledging to “enforce building codes” in Arab communities and to treat “incitement”.

Netanyahu was also reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida as proceeding with his incitement against Palestinian citizens of Israel.

In response to Netanyahu’s remarks, specifically that he won’t “accept two states within Israel,” Palestinian Foreign Ministry was quoted in al-Quds as stating: “Instead of assailing Palestinian citizens of Israel, Netanyahu should prevent the Israeli settlers’ state in the West Bank.”

Furthermore, al-Quds reported that the Palestinian leadership has welcomed the implementation of the accord with Vatican.

Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that Israeli police and intelligence services continued the ongoing search for a suspect gunman who carried out a shooting attack in Tel Aviv on Jan.

Al-Ayyam reported that Hamas movement is examining an initiative pushed by Palestinian factions to broker a proposal for the reopening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt.

The three dailies reported that Saudi Arabia has severed ties with Iran in response to Iranian demonstrators’ storming Saudi’s Tehran embassy to protest Riyadh’s execution of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

K.F/M.H