RAMALLAH, January 23, 2016 (WAFA) – Shooting dozens of Palestinians by Israeli forces during weekly Friday demonstrations across the West Bank hit the front page headlines in Palestinian dailies.
The three dailies reported that dozens of Palestinians were shot and injured by live fire across West Bank districts and along Gaza borderline.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida added in this regard that among the injured was a young Palestinian man who lost an eye after being shot with a rubber-coated steel bullet during clashes in the northern West Bank city of Qalqiliya.
Al-Quds added that Palestinians held demonstrations in northern and southern Gaza Strip in protest of the ongoing Gaza blockade.
Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that Jewish extremists vandalized tombstones in a Christian cemetery in Nazareth, Israel.
Furthermore, al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida highlighted the eviction of dozens of Israeli settlers who illegally took over two Palestinian buildings in Hebron’s Old City.
Al-Ayyam reported in this regard that the settlers were evicted ]by Israeli forces[ from the buildings and that promises have been made ]by Israeli officials[ to allow the settlers back into the buildings once they obtain necessary permits.
Highlighting the political strife caused by this eviction, al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that this eviction would undermine Netanyahu’s coalition.
It explained that some Israeli lawmakers have threatened not to boycott parliamentary votes and that they decried Israeli ‘Defense’ Minister Moshe Yaalon in protest of the settlers’ eviction.
It highlighted Palestinians’ demonstrations against settlement activity in Hebron and reported on Palestinian homeowners as denying having sold their houses to settlers.
Yaalon was reported in al-Ayyam as stating that 407,000 Israeli settlers are now illegally based in the West Bank settlements and adding that he does not care about Washington’s criticism of settlement construction across the West Bank.
Furthermore, President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly met with Norway’s Envoy for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland in Ramallah and underscored the importance of convening an international peace conference.
In connection to Netanyahu’s remarks addressing High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and urging her to adopt policy of “moderate” Arab states on Israel, Secretary-General of PLO Executive Committee Saed Erekat was reported in al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida as betting Netanyahu to pinpoint any improvement in relations with Arab states.
K.F./T.R.
