RAMALLAH, December 31, 2016 (WAFA) – Israel’s release of the corpses of two Palestinians who were shot dead by Israeli forces after alleged stabbings attempts in November and December hit the Saturday front page headlines in Palestinian dailies.
The dailies said Israeli authorities handed over the bodies of Maen Abu Qaraa and Hamad al-Sheikh to their families in the Ramallah district village of al-Mazraa al-Qibliyya and the Jerusalem district village of Beit Surik.
It is worth noting that the bodies of Abu Qaraa, 23, and al-Sheikh, 21, were released after being held by Israeli forces for 57 and 17 days respectively.
Abu Qaraa was shot dead by Israeli forces near the entrance to the Israeli settlement of Ofra on November 3, while al-Sheikh was killed following alleged stabbing attempt in Jerusalem’s Old City on December 14.
Furthermore, the dailies said Israeli forces shot and injured a Palestinian woman at Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem.
The woman, identified as Jihan Hashimeh, 35, from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya, was shot after allegedly attempting to stab soldiers. However, she was reportedly sick and on her way to Jerusalem for medical treatment when she entered the vehicle lane by mistake where she was shot allegedly for not going back as ordered by the soldiers manning the checkpoint.
The dailies also said Israeli forces suppressed weekly Friday marches in the Qalqiliya district village of Kufr Qaddoum and the Ramallah district village of Bilin, detaining a number of Palestinians and injuring others.
It is worth noting that the protestors marked the 52nd anniversary of the start of the Palestinian revolution against Israeli colonization of Palestine.
Moreover, the dailies said settlers escorted by special Israeli forces took over a Palestinian-owned two-storey residential building in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.
Al-Quds added settlers took over the building after it was illegally transferred to the Elad settlement group.
Highlighting a report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), al-Quds said that the Palestinian people total approximately 12.7 million, including 4.88 million living in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Besides, al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida highlighted the British government’s stance on US Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech on Palestinian-Israeli peace process.
British Prime Minister Teresa May was reported in al-Ayyam “reprimanding” Kerry for his criticism of Israeli policies and settlement activity in the occupied territories and saying “settlements are far from the only problem of this conflict.”
She was also reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida as claiming: “]We don’t therefore believe that the way to[ negotiate peace is by focusing on only one issue, in this case the construction of settlements.”
Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported French officials as affirming that the upcoming multilateral peace conference in Paris would determine the main parameters for solving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The papers also reported on the denial by President Abbas’ office of what came in the Israeli daily Yediot Aharanot that Abbas has coordinated with the US on the anti-settlement Security Council resolution 2334.
K.F./M.K.
