RAMALLAH, December 28, 2016 (WAFA) – Ongoing Israeli settlement activity, particularly in occupied East Jerusalem, was the focus of Wednesday’s Arabic dailies.
The headline of the main front page story in al-Ayyam said the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem is expected to approve the construction of hundreds of new housing units in settlements built on occupied Palestinian land in the east section of the city.
It also said that plans are underway to build an industrial area to serve three settlements in the north of the West Bank and to also build roads to link main West Bank highways to Israel.
Al-Quds reported on the opening of a new tunnel that extends from Silwan, which borders Jerusalem’s Old City, and goes under the Old City to reach al-Aqsa Mosque. It said the Israeli minister of culture and mayor of West Jerusalem inaugurated the new tunnel.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida opted to highlight the meeting of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Ramallah, which was also reported in the two other dailies. The papers said the executive committee decided to work closely with France to make the upcoming international peace conference a success.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida said also that the international peace conference will affirm the two-state solution.
Al-Quds said Palestinians are strongly opposed to plans by the Israeli minister of education to force Arab schools in East Jerusalem to shut down during Jewish holidays.
It said Jordanian foreign minister, Naser Judeh, is expected in Ramallah on Wednesday where he will meet with President Mahmoud Abbas and hand him an invitation to attend an Arab summit in March.
It also said US Secretary of State John Kerry is going to speak on Wednesday about solutions to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict prior to the Paris peace conference.
The three papers reported on Israeli measures in the West Bank, including demolitions and confiscation of Palestinian land.
Al-Ayyam said Palestine has come forward to help Senegal overcome the Israeli punitive measures after it adopted the Security Council resolution that condemned Israeli settlements. It said experts, doctors and businessmen are going to visit Dakar to see how to help Senegal deal with the outcome of the Israeli boycott.
It said, based on figures from the so-called Israeli Civil Administration, that Israel approved 35 construction requests by Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank, which is under full Israeli military control, while at the same time it issued 2000 demolition orders against structures Palestinians had built in this area.
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