RAMALLAH, January 17, 2017 (WAFA) – The news about a Palestinian teenager shot and killed by Israeli forces during clashes in a village near Bethlehem hit the front page of the three main Palestinian Arabic dailies on Tuesday.
The dailies said Israeli forces shot dead Qusai al-Imour, 17, during intense clashes in Taqou, northeast of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that while a Palestinian was killed during the clashes, five others, including a woman, were also injured. It said that Israeli soldiers arrested Imour while injured and left him to bleed to death after banning Red Crescent ambulances from reaching him.
Al-Quds said while clashes were happening in Bethlehem, Israeli forces uprooted on Monday hundreds of olive trees in the city of Qalqilya under the pretext of opening a road for settlers living in the illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. Al-Ayyam reported that 2,000 olive trees were going to be uprooted and that the area where the uprooting took place was declared a closed military area.
On a different subject, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah’s statements about the energy crisis in Gaza were also reported in the three dailies.
Al-Ayyam said that Hamdallah, during a press conference held at the Energy and Natural Resources Authority in Ramallah, demanded Hamas to hand over the energy authority in Gaza to the national unity government in order to be able to solve the ongoing energy crises. It also said that Hamas is ready to hand over all of its authorities under conditions.
It also said that electricity in Gaza is back to the 8-hour schedule after fuel was allowed into Gaza.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Hamdallah also said that Hamas does not allow the government to run the Gaza Strip. He also said that Hamas continues to rule in Gaza while the conciliation government is supposed to be responsible for only civilian needs is unthinkable.
Hamdallah was also reported in al-Quds calling on Hamas to allow the conciliation government to rule over Gaza so it can do its tasks.
Al-Ayyam said residents of Silwad, a town near Ramallah, are opposed to Israeli plans to break down their land in order to allocate an area to move the illegal settlement outpost, Amona, to it.
It also said Russian Foreign Minister Serge Lavrov had met with representatives of Palestinian factions attending a conference in Moscow. This story was also reported in al-Quds on its front page.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida and al-Ayyam reported a statement by the president’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, that the recent Palestinian achievements have proven once again that Israel’s policies have failed and that the next major political battle is over Jerusalem. Al-Ayyam reported that Abu Rudeineh said that Israel is isolated by the international community.
Al-Quds said US President-elect Donald Trump told Britain that he will not make a position on the Palestinian issue without first coordinating with it.
K.T./M.K.
