RAMALLAH, November 16, 2017 (WAFA) - The Israeli army detonation of the family home of a Palestinian attacker in Jerusalem-district town of Beit Surik hit the front page headlines in Palestinian Arabic daily newspapers on Thursday.
The three dailies reported Israeli forces detonated the family home of Nimer al-Jamal in Beit Surik village, northwest of Jerusalem.
Al-Jamal was killed by Israeli forces in September after he carried out a shooting attack at the gate to the illegal settlement of Har Adar located near the village that left three Israeli officers dead.
They added Israel bulldozers demolished several Palestinian structures and a building under construction in East Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Issawiya.
On the other hand, al-Quds reported the US House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a bill that would cut US funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The bill, known as the Taylor Force Act, would reportedly cut US funding to the PA unless the latter stops paying salaries to Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails and their families.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida added a draft bill was also introduced in the US Congress that would prohibit military and financial aid to Israel from being used to detain and torture Palestinian children in the West Bank.
Initiated by Minnesota Democrat Representative Betty McCollum, with co-sponsorship by nine other Democrats, the Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act would reportedly prevent US “tax dollars from supporting the Israeli military’s ongoing detention and mistreatment of Palestinian children.”
President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence also dominated the front page headlines in the dailies.
Abbas was reported in the dailies stating: “The establishment of the independent State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital is inevitable.”
He was also reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida stressing that Israel is requested to recognize the Palestinian state under the two-state solution.
He was also reported stressing the importance of national unity and Palestinian people’s struggle for their inalienable national rights.
He was also reported in al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida claiming his support for judicial independence following the arrest of a lawyer by Palestinian security services from inside a Nablus courthouse.
The dailies also highlighted the delay in the long-anticipated opening of Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt.
Al-Quds said in this regard a delegation from the Palestinian Presidential Guard has made an inspection visit to the crossing and would deploy more troops there within days.
It added Hamas has rejected an agreement signed in 2005 as a reference for operating the crossing and that the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has slammed the delay as a “negative development.”
Member of Fatah Central Committee Azzam al-Ahmad was also reported in al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida stating that “special circumstances” in Egypt for the delay.
Citing an expert opinion, al-Quds said the 2005 agreement is “legally invalid” and “contradicts with the future of Palestinian state.”
Furthermore, al-Quds said over 60 Palestinian schools in the West Bank are under the threat of demolition by Israeli forces.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Fatah Central Committee decided that only member of the central committee who are in charge of reconciliation talks with Hamas movement can make statements on behalf of Fatah on the progress of reconciliation talks.
Member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee Ahmad Majdalani was reported in al-Ayyam stating the US administration has not introduced any idea or plan regarding the resumption of the peace process.
Al-Ayyam spotlighted new figures released by the Israeli settlement-watch group, Peace Now, on settlement activity in the West Bank in 2017.
Peace Now was reported saying: “to date, plans had been advanced for 6,742 new settler homes and 3,154 tenders had been issued.”
According to al-Hayat al-Jadida, Israeli forces detained 19 Palestinians in West Bank raids, including 16 from East Jerusalem.
It added Israeli forces physically assaulted three Palestinian children to the east of Qalqilia in the northern West Bank.
K.F./M.K.
