RAMALLAH, January 14, 2017 (WAFA) – Protests against weeks of deepening electricity crisis which left many of  besieged Gaza’s two million population with less than three hours of electricity a day hit the front page headlines in Palestinian dailies on Saturday.

Al-Ayyam said Hamas security forces proceeded with quelling the “electricity intifada” as Palestinian factions condemned the detention of dozens of protestors by Hamas.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida said Gaza residents continued to protest the worsening electricity crisis. It added Hamas security forces cracked downed on protestors, injuring and detaining dozens.

Al-Quds said in this regard Gaza electricity crisis worsened, causing tensions to mount.

The dailies covered official Palestinian and international remarks in response to the Gaza electricity crisis.

Al-Quds said the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov called for “the full respect of the right to freedom of expression, peaceful protest and assembly in Gaza.”

It added Palestinian factions have called for the crisis to be accommodated and Hamas’ security intervention to be halted.

Al-Ayyam said the Palestinian government condemned the “irresponsible behavior” of some parties in the Hamas movement toward the protests.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported the government as stating Hamas statements on the crisis “lacked credibility.”

While al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida covered Gaza electricity crisis in their main front page news items, al-Quds opted to highlight weekly Friday anti-settlements protests across the West Bank.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said Israeli forces violently suppressed the weekly peaceful marches using rubber-coated steel bullets and tear-gas canisters, hitting and injuring several protestors and causing dozens to suffocate.

Highlighting Israeli settlement plans in Jerusalem, al-Quds said the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem is going to facilitate building permits for Israeli contractors to speed up construction of hotels on the Arab East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabber.

The dailies said the international peace conference will be held on Sunday in Paris.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that the countries that would attend the conference would affirm the two-state solution and affirm the illegality of any unilateral changes to the pre-1967 borders, including in Jerusalem.

Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Russian Foreign Minister Sergy Lavrov announcing that Moscow would host a meeting for Palestinian factions.

Al-Quds had an interview with former Fatah Central Committee member Nabil Shaath who spoke about various political developments in Palestine.

Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported secretary-general of the PLO executive committee, Saeb Erekat, as announcing President Mahmoud Abbas has called on his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to intervene and prevent the relocation of the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida said more than 20,000 Arabs in Israel demonstrated against the demolition of homes in the town of Qalansowa. It said people donated thousands of dollars to rebuild the homes demolished under the pretext of building without permit.

It also said that the Ministry of Education has protested an Israeli decision to force East Jerusalem schools to take off for what it said was spring holiday because this would affect preparations to sit for the high school matriculation exam, the Tawjihi.

Al-Quds reported some members of US President-elect Donald Trump’s team as denying reports that Trump would move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem immediately after he assumes office.

Both dailies reported Jerusalem’s Grand Mufti Muhammad Hussein warning about Trump’s plan.

K.F./M.K.