RAMALLAH, July 24, 2017 (WAFA) – The spiraling tension eight days following the installation of metal detectors at the gates leading to East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound dominated front page headlines in Monday’s Palestinian Arabic dailies.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said Israeli occupation authorities mounted smart cameras near the entrances to the mosque compound as a possible indication of an alternative to the metal detectors.

They added Israeli troops attacked thousands of Palestinian Muslim worshippers who continued to perform prayers outside Lions’ Gate (Bab al-Asbat) to express their opposition of Israeli measures, injuring dozens.

Al-Quds added Palestinian clerics in East Jerusalem reiterated their rejection of the installation of metal detectors and cameras at the gates leading to the mosque compound.

The dailies also reported President Mahmoud Abbas reiterating the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) opposition to the Israeli tightened measures, particularly the metal detectors, at the mosque.

Abbas was reported in al-Quds affirming the PA has ceased all forms of coordination with Israel, particularly security coordination.

He was also reported in al-Quds and al-Ayyam stating: “Sovereignty over the mosque is our right, and it is us who should be standing at its gates.”

He was also reported in al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida stating: “Things will be very difficult. We are not risking the future of our people. We only take well studied decisions that we hope will have a result.”

The dailies reported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing that the family home of Omar al-Abed would be demolished as a punitive measure.

They added several Israeli ministers called for the death penalty to be imposed on al-Abed, 19, who stabbed and killed three Israeli settlers and seriously injured a fourth after breaking into the illegal settlement of Halamish, northwest of Ramallah.

Following the fatal stabbing, al-Ayyam said Israeli settlers set up a new settlement outpost near the Halamish settlement, west of Ramallah.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida added Israeli forces imposed a tightened siege on Kobar, northwest of Ramallah, hometown of al-Abed.

Highlighting detention raids, al-Quds said Israeli forces conducted a large-scale detention campaign, detaining Palestinians purportedly affiliated with the Hamas movement across the West Bank.

Al-Ayyam reported a Palestinian young man was run over by an Israeli military vehicle before being detained in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Tur.

It added Israeli police detained a Palestinian cleric for delivering a midday sermon outside the mosque compound in which he prayed for bad things to happen to Israeli police.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida said Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians near Jayyous and the military checkpoint of al-Hamra in the northern West Bank, injuring several Palestinians.

Al-Quds wondered in a report quoting analysts if following Abbas’ decision to freeze contacts with Israel, would the situation in the region get worse?

The dailies said a Jordanian citizen was killed and two others, including an Israeli, were wounded in the Israeli embassy in Amman.

K.F./M.K.