RAMALLAH, June 29, 2016 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas’ meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Ramallah hit the front page headlines in Palestinian dailies.
Highlighting Abbas’ remarks during a joint press conference with Ban in Ramallah, al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported President Mahmoud Abbas as stating that the Palestinian people seek an end for decade-long injustice they are inflicted with as well as to exercise their right to self-determination.
He was also reported in al-Ayyam as stating: “Our hands remain outstretched for peace based on the two-state solution framework.”
He was also reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida as adding that Israeli occupation and settlement construction are the antithesis of the hoped-for peace and it is the time for releasing over 7,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Ban was reported in the three dailies as stating the Palestinian people are still living a life faced with indignities and the humiliating occupation.
Highlighting Ban’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, al-Ayyam reported Ban as calling on Netanyahu to take “courageous steps” necessary for making peace.
Highlighting a report published by the Applied Research Center of Jerusalem (ARIJ), al-Quds said that the number of Israeli (Jewish) settlers has jumped to over 750,000 in West Bank settlements and that the area of lands seized from Palestinians has increased six-fold.
Highlighting recent clashes at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, al-Quds and al-Ayyam said Israeli government decided they would close the mosque compound to non-Muslims until the end of Islam’s fasting month of Ramadan.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Samih Shukri is scheduled to visit Ramallah on Wednesday to deliver a message to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on behalf of his Egyptian counterpart President Abd al Fattah al-Sisi.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida said the World Bank has provided USD 55 million in direct support to the West Bank and Gaza Trust Fund.
K.F.
