RAMALLAH, January 5, 2017 (WAFA) – The Israeli demolition of three Palestinian homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Beit Hanina and Shufat and the Israeli military court conviction of killer soldier hit the front page headlines in Palestinian local dailies on Thursday.
Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida made the demolitions as their main front page story and said Israeli bulldozers demolished three homes, two of them were in Beit Hanina and the third in Shufat.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida and al-Ayyam said Palestinians managed to prevent the demolition of a home in the Ramallah district village of Budrus when they barricaded themselves inside the home. The army came to the house to demolish it because it was built in an area under army control but the villagers’ action forced the army to leave empty-handed.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said Israeli forces also demolished two shacks and destroyed seven water wells in Tuqoa, east of Bethlehem.
Al-Quds said Israeli forces delivered stop-construction notices to 19 Palestinian homes and structures in Salfit.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said Israeli West Jerusalem municipality inspectors stormed the Jerusalem neighborhood of Shufat under heavy police protection, sparking clashes with Palestinian residents. The municipality crews reportedly fined a number of shops under all kinds of pretexts.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida added Israeli bulldozers leveled Palestinian lands in the Salfit district town of Kufr al-Dik.
It said Israeli troops detained a total of 32 Palestinians during predawn raids across the West Bank.
While al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida covered home demolitions in their main articles, al-Ayyam opted to spotlight the conviction of the Israeli soldier who shot and killed a wounded Palestinian from point blank in Hebron earlier last year.
The three dailies reported in this regard that Elor Azaria was convicted of manslaughter for the point-blank shooting of Abdul Fattah al-Sharif.
The dailies said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials stated that Azaria should be granted immediate pardon.
Highlighting Palestinian reactions to the Israeli military court’s verdict, al-Ayyam said Palestinians have called for initiating an international investigation into Israeli extrajudicial killings of Palestinians.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida added the al-Sharif family slammed the court’s verdict and called for the life imprisonment of Azaria.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida printed photos for the al-Sharif family and hundreds of Palestinians protesting the verdict at Ibn Rushd Square in central Hebron and vowing to take the case to the International Criminal Court (ICC), claiming the case was in fact cold-blooded murder.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) have introduced a five-point initiative in order to convene the Palestinian National Council.
Highlighting a report published by the European Union (EU) on home demolitions, al-Quds said that EU has lost €242,725 as a result of the demolition of EU-funded Palestinian homes and structures in West Bank Area C within the second half of 2016.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said Israeli navy opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of Gaza, hitting and causing a boat to sink.
The dailies highlighted President Mahmoud Abbas’ meeting with the president of the French Senate Gérard Larcher in Ramallah.
Abbas was reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida as affirming Palestine’s cooperation with France in order to successfully convene the international peace conference scheduled in Paris for January 15.
Larcher was reported as stating the conference provides an opportunity to launch a real peace process.
In response to the introduction of a bill by US Republican senators to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, al-Hayat al-Jadida reported secretary-general of the PLO executive committee, Saeb Erekat, as warning that the move would be reciprocated by taking decisive steps.
K.F./M.K.
