RAMALLAH, October 15, 2016 (WAFA) – UNESCO vote on Jerusalem as well as the debate at the United Nations Security Council on Israeli settlements were the focus of the Saturday issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies.

The three papers highlighted these two issues on their front page plus other stories such as Israeli police checking the papers of and frisking young Palestinians inside Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on a Friday, the Muslim prayer day, which al-Hayat al-Jadida said was “unprecedented.”

The papers quoted presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh saying the UNESCO vote and the Security Council debate were proof that Israel’s political isolation is on the rise.

Al-Ayyam quoted Foreign Minister Riyad Malki as saying Israel blackmailed and intimidated UNESCO member states to prevent them from casting a pro-vote on the Jerusalem resolution.

The weekly Friday protests in the West Bank also received front page coverage.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported on the Palestinian activist, Dia Bashiti, 45, who was shot and killed outside his apartment in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in yet unclear circumstances. It said he was shot from short distance in an apparent assassination.

The paper also quoted Fatah spokesman Osama Qawasmi saying that Fatah movement is opposed to any conference that supposedly speaks on its behalf unless it got the approval of the Fatah leadership. He was referring to a conference planned by the National Center for Middle East Studies and that is supposed to discuss reforms in Fatah.

Qawasmi also said in the same statement that Fatah looks with suspicion at any meeting between Hamas and former Fatah strongman Mohammad Dahlan, who was dismissed from the movement.

Al-Quds said residents in Beit Sahour have removed their water meters to protest not getting any water for five months.

It also said hundreds of Jordanians have demonstrated against the gas agreement between Jordan and Israel.

M.A.