RAMALLAH, February 17, 2017 (WAFA) – The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington and their statements hit the front page headlines in Palestinian dailies.
Al-Quds reported sources close to Trump’s administration as stating Trump asked Netanyahu not to impose new realities on the ground.
It also reported the same sources as revealing Trump refused Israeli settlement expansion and the recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Al-Ayyam reported Netanyahu as affirming Israel would proceed with settlement construction in Jerusalem and that a joint US-Israeli committee would be formed in order to “empower” Palestinian economy.
The dailies also covered official Palestinian and international reactions to Trump’s vague disavowal to the two-state solution and statements that he is open to new solutions to achieve peace.
The dailies reported US Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Nikki Haley as stating the US “absolutely supports the two-state solution, but we are thinking out of the box as well.”
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault as stating the US position on Middle East peace is “very confused and worrying”.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida also reported German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabreil as warning that “uned construction of settlements will . . . make a two-state solution impossible and could increase the risks of conflicts in the Middle East, including possible war.”
Al-Quds reported Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying it is premature for Israel to assume that Washington DC and Tel Aviv adopt corresponding positions.
On the other hand, President Mahmoud Abbas was reported in the dailies as affirming that 2017 would mark the year that would witness the end of the Israeli occupation.
In relation to the US veto which blocked his appointment as the US peace envoy to Libya, al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported former Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as stating he objects all forms of blackmail and would not agree to make a deal with any side in order to overcome the veto.
Highlighting Israeli forces and settlers’ assaults, al-Quds said a Palestinian man was injured after being run over by an Israeli settler at the entrance of Beit Ummar in the southern West Bank district of Hebron.
Al-Ayyam said Israeli forces detained 10 Palestinians in overnight raids across the West Bank and raided Huwwara village, south of Nablus.
Al-Quds said the Israeli Municipality of West Jerusalem seized a privately-owned Palestinian plot of land in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said Israel plans to expand the Benjamin settlement bloc near Ramallah.
The dailies added Israeli occupation authorities would return the body of slain Palestinian Muhammad Jallad on Saturday.
Jallad, 24, from Tulkarem, was shot and critically injured by Israeli forces after he allegedly attempted to stab soldiers at Huwwara checkpoint, south of Nablus, on November 9. He was taken to Belinson hospital, where he remained in critical condition until his death on February 9.
Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida said heavy rains inundated 10 Palestinian homes and forced schools to shut down in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Al-Ayyam said scores of homes were inundated in Gaza and the government has allocated homes to accommodate families affected by heavy rains in Jabalia.
Al-Ayyam reported the Hamas movement as affirming that it would not participate in local municipal elections nor allow elections to be held in the Gaza Strip.
Finally, al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Culture Ministry as clarifying the attorney-general Ahmad Barak did not confiscate the controversial novel “A Crime in Ramallah”, but temporarily removed it from bookstores until the investigation is concluded.
K.F.
