RAMALLAH, August 18, 2016 (WAFA) – The funerals held for 17-year-old Muhammad Abu Hashhash and former Palestinian detainee Naim Shawamrah, 46, hit the front page headlines in the dailies.
Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida said large numbers of Palestinians attended the funeral processions of Abu Hashhash and Shawamrah in Hebron’s al-Fawwar refugee camp and Dura village.
It is worth noting in this regard that Abu Hashhash succumbed to his wounds after being shot and injured by Israeli forces during clashes triggered by Israeli raids into al-Fawwar. Shawamrah, who spent 19 years in Israeli detention, died in a Hebron hospital after a painful struggle with muscular dystrophy which first emerged when he was in prison.
Leveling Palestinian land and structures in the West Bank districts of Nablus and Bethlehem also hit the front page headlines in the dailies.
Al-Quds said Israeli forces leveled Palestinian lands in the Bethlehem town of Tuqu‘ and the Nablus town of Zaatara.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida explained Israeli forces demolished a Palestinian house and agricultural structures and roads to the south of Nablus.
Al-Quds added forces delivered demolition notices for Palestinian structures in the Jerusalem town of al-Eizariya.
Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida highlighted the worsening health condition of Palestinian detainee Bilal Kayid, who has been hunger striking for 66 days in protest of his administrative detention without charge or trial.
Al-Quds said Physicians for Human Rights called on Israel to reconsider the case of Kayid. Al-Hayat al-Jadida added Amnesty International demanded that Israel immediately release Kayid.
Also regarding Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, al-Ayyam said Israeli Prison Service have been assaulting detainees in the presence of their families and tightening the noose around hunger striker despite their deteriorating health conditions.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam highlighted a Jerusalem Municipality’s plan to expand the western entrance of Jerusalem in order to obliterate the city’s Islamic and Arabic character.
The three dailies said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov handed over to President Mahmoud Abbas a letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Finally, al-Quds and al-Ayyam highlighted Israeli ‘Defense’ Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s “carrot and stick” plan.
Al-Quds explained that according to his plan, Lieberman threatens to bypass Abbas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) and intends to hold direct talks with Palestinian businessmen and academics.
Al-Ayyam explained that Lieberman also threatens to step up incursions into PA’s areas (A Area) and punish hometowns of Palestinians who actually or allegedly committed attacks against Israelis forces and settlers.
K.F.
