RAMALLAH, September 29, 2016 (WAFA) – Forcing two Palestinian families in Jerusalem to demolish their own homes and Israeli army raids across the West Bank occupied a portion of the front page coverage in the three Palestinian dailies on Thursday.
Al-Quds daily said two Palestinian homeowners were forced to tear down their own houses in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina otherwise the all-Israeli Jerusalem municipality would demolish them and force them to pay exorbitant amounts and fees for the work.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam also said Israeli bulldozers demolished water well in the Hebron town of Yatta and uprooted scores of trees in the Bethlehem town of Wadi Fukin.
Al-Ayyam said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory (OCHA) said in a report that demolitions increased by 60 percent compared to last year and said this was the highest since 2008.
Highlighting West Bank detentions, al-Ayyam said Israeli forces detained 39 Palestinians during raids throughout the West Bank including a lawmaker.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida said a total of 41 Palestinians were detained, including several minors and a lawmaker. It added that Israeli forces seized more than $70,000 and jewelry during these raids.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida, on the other hand, opted to give prominence to the 17th session of Fatah Revolutionary Council which opened its session in Ramallah on Wednesday night in the presence of President Mahmoud Abbas, who is also chairman of Fatah.
It said Abbas told the meeting that he was determined to hold the seventh Fatah congress soon.
Al-Ayyam quoted Fatah Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad saying that preparations to hole the next Fatah congress will be completed on October 29.
Highlighting settlement construction plans, al-Ayyam said Israeli occupation authorities advanced plans to build a new settlement on lands seized from the Bethlehem area village of al-Walaja.
The papers said Israeli fanatics are planning to carry out mass visits to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem during the upcoming Jewish holidays prompting fears of outbreak of violence.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said former Israeli President Shimon Peres, who died at age 93, would be buried on Friday.
Clashes that erupted between Palestinian security forces and Palestinian gunmen in the northern West Bank city of Nablus also hit the front page headlines in the dailies.
The dailies said one of four gunmen shot by Palestinian security forces has later died of his wounds.
They also said that winter time in Palestine in which clocks will be turned back by one hour begins the morning of October 29, according to a cabinet decision.
Internationally, al-Quds and al-Ayyam said the US Senate overrode President Barack Obama’s veto of legislation allowing relatives of the victims of the September 11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia.
K.F./M.A.
