RAMALLAH, September 26, 2017 (WAFA) - The Palestinian cabinet’s plan to hold its upcoming weekly session in Gaza as part of reconciliation efforts with Hamas hit the Tuesday front page headlines of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies.
Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported the cabinet will head to the besieged Gaza Strip on Monday, October 2.
Al-Quds added Hamas leadership held a meeting with other Palestinian factions and briefed them on the recent understandings to restore national unity.
Al-Ayyam said in this regard the cabinet would hold its weekly session in Gaza in the middle of the coming week.
The dailies also reported President Mahmoud Abbas presided over an expanded meeting held in Ramallah for the Palestinian leadership that included the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee, Fatah Central Committee, the prime minister and other political figures.
Al-Quds said the meeting was intended to discuss the outcomes Abbas’ talks during the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Al-Hayat al-Jadida added the Palestinian leadership discussed several themes, including bid for full membership in the UN and reported Abbas calling for “the restoration of democratic elections.”
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam highlighted statements by the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov on the fresh push to end the decade-long intra-Palestinian division.
Mladenov was reported in al-Quds announcing the UN would make sure all Fatah-Hamas understandings to achieve reconciliation are implemented on the ground.
He was also reported in al-Ayyam stating he did not think there would be another chance for unity if the current opportunity for reconciliation and lifting the siege imposed on Gaza was lost.
Furthermore, al-Quds reported president’s advisor for economic affairs Muhammad Mustafa stating the Israeli occupation causes an annual deficit of $3.5 billion for the Palestinian economy.
It reported Israeli Jewish settlers continued to force their way into East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
It added Israeli forces injured a Palestinian man with two bullets and caused dozens to suffocate during raids into Bethlehem-district camp of Dheisheh and Tulkarm.
The dailies added Israeli occupation authorities delivered demolition notices for a number of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya, citing unpermitted construction as a pretext.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam also reported Israeli forces demolished two Palestinian structures, including a carwash, in Hebron-district town of Beit Ummar and Salfit-district town of Deir Ballout.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida added Israeli troops detained 23 Palestinians in overnight raids across the West Bank.
It added troops photographed Palestinian residential buildings and a mosque in preparation for demolition in a raid into al-Matar neighborhood near Qalandiya refugee camp, north of Jerusalem.
The dailies said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called on the international community to hold Israel accountable for its systematic violations of international law and implement UN resolutions.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said the Israeli Supreme Court has postponed a ruling on a petition against the planned demolition of the Palestinian community of Khan al-Ahmar, east of Jerusalem, and forcible transfer of its residents to Abu Dis town to April 2018.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said the international policing organization Interpol accepted the Palestinian Authority’s request to accede to the organization as a member state, marking failure of US and Israeli pressures to prevent this move.
K.F./M.K.
