RAMALLAH, February 20, 2017 (WAFA) – Demolition orders served to an entire Bedouin community in the Jerusalem district and the February 2016 secret peace summit in Aqaba hit the front page headlines in the three Palestinian Arabic dailies.
The three dailies said Israeli forces delivered demolition and eviction orders for 40 Palestinian homes and a school during a raid into the Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar, northeast of Jerusalem.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported that a Palestinian family was forced to demolish its own home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.
They said Israeli occupation authorities published a master plan for the construction of a technical college on lands seized from Masha village, west of Salfit. Al-Quds explained the new college will be constructed as part of the neighboring Elkana settlement.
While demolition orders featured as main headlines, al-Quds and al-Ayyam opted to highlight the February 2016 secret peace summit in Aqaba in their main front page news items.
They said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a plan for a regional peace initiative presented by then-US Secretary of State John Kerry during a secret summit with leaders of Egypt and Jordan.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that Netanyahu announced that he and US President Donald Trump have formed an Israeli-US team to examine the issue of Israeli Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Al-Quds said Netanyahu has pledged to Trump that he would reconsider the construction of a new settlement for settlers evicted from Amona settlement outpost and rein in settlement construction.
A story in Al-Quds and al-Ayyam read that Jordan’s King Abdullah II affirmed the two-state solution is the only way to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
He said any move to end the stalemate in the peace process should be based on the two-state solution.
Chairman of the Board of the Palestinian Islamic Bank Maher al-Masri stating the bank was the second largest grossing Palestinian bank in 2016 with over $12 USD million worth of profits reported Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that President Mahmoud Abbas received a delegation from the Arab Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALESCO) in Ramallah.
Al-Ayyam said a Hamas military court condemned six Palestinians to death by hanging for spying for Israel.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported on imprisoned Palestinian journalist Mohammad al-Qiq, who has been hunger striking for two weeks, saying he is being held by Israel in a “grave-like” prison cell.
K.F/M.H
