RAMALLAH, June 16, 2017 (WAFA) – Palestinian officials’ pledge that they would continue to pay the allowances of the families of prisoners in Israel and those who were killed or injured by Israeli forces hit the front page headlines in Palestinian dailies.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah stating the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) would continue to fulfill its ]financial[ commitments in relation to the families of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces.
Hamdallah made these remarks during an iftar that was organized by PLO Negotiations Affairs Department and attended by prisoners’ families besides to Arab and foreign diplomats in Ramallah.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Secretary-General of the PLO’s Executive Committee Saeb Erekat stating the Israeli government seeks to divert world’s attention from the ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories.
It also reported Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov stating Israel should comply with international laws and resolutions and Palestinian prisoners’ rights are guaranteed.
It also reported Chairman of the Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Qaraqe slamming the Israel’s “piracy” of the allowances as an “unprecedented attack” against the Palestinian people.
Mladenov and Qaraqe made their remarks following the approval by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, of a preliminary reading of a bill that would see Israel deduct an estimated 1 billion shekels ($280 million) annually from the tax revenues it collects on behalf of the PA, equivalent to the allowances of the martyrs and prisoners.
On the other hand, al-Quds and al-Ayyam said the Knesset was slated to discuss a bill that would allow settlers to return to the evacuated settlements in the northern West Bank.
Al-Quds said Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters during a raid into the Bethlehem-district town of al-Doha, causing dozens of Palestinians to suffocate.
Al-Ayyam said forces detained 15 Palestinians during multiple predawn raids across the West Bank.
It added Israeli naval boats attacked once again Palestinian fishermen sailing off coast the northern besieged Gaza Strip.
The dailies reported President Mahmoud Abbas stressing the need to implement an agreement to unite all Palestinian labor movements in one trade .
Al-Quds reported Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories since 1967 Michael Lynk warning against the consequences of the Israeli cabinet’s move to reduce by 40 percent the electricity supply to the impoverished Gaza Strip.
It added the Palestinian government and the United Nations (UN) signed the second United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for the occupied Palestinian territories covering the period 2018-2022.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported the Israeli ‘Defense’ Ministry denying media reports that the Israeli government approved plans to expand the municipal boundaries of Qalqiliya city in the northern West Bank by allowing the construction of 14,000 new homes in Area C.
They added the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) released a report slamming Israeli occupation authorities for torturing Palestinian children.
K.F.
