RAMALLAH, January 18, 2018 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas’ statement during the International Conference in Support of Jerusalem, that is hosted by al-Azhar in Cairo, dominated the front page headlines in the dailies on Thursday.

Al-Quds reported that the participants in the conference declared US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as null and void.

Abbas was reported in al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida stating: “Who will compromise on Jerusalem or Palestine has not been born and never will be born.”

He was also reported in al-Ayyam stating that the Palestinian people would continue to pursue peace as an option, “but not for any price.”

He was also reported in al-Ayyam reiterating his call for Arabs and Muslims to visit Jerusalem.

Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida highlighted Abbas’ meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo.

Furthermore, al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said clerics from the three monotheistic faiths affirmed Trump’s decision on Jerusalem as null and void.

Coptic Church Pope Tawadros II was reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida expressing his refusal of explanations of Torah that deny others and impinge on their rights”.

The dailies reported a breaking news that Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in the West Bank city of Jenin purportedly for responsible for a drive-by shooting that killed a settler a week earlier.

They identified the slain Palestinian as Ahmad Jarrar, 26, whose father was also killed by Israeli forces during the second intifada in 2002.

Moreover, the dailies said Israeli police demolished a Palestinian home in East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina.

According to al-Quds and al-Ayyam, Israeli forces injured several Palestinians with rubber-coated steel bullets as they provided cover for settlers who attempted to storm Qalqilia-district town of Azzoun in the northern West Bank.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported that Israeli Jewish settlers’ attacks continued unabated against Palestinians across the West Bank.

Settlers reportedly stormed a school in Bethlehem-district village of Beit Taamir, damaging some of its contents. They also slashed the tires of several Palestinian-owned vehicles and sprayed anti-Arab slogans on them in Jerusalem-district village of Beit Iksa.

The dailies reported that Israeli military is examining the possibility of taking control of security in Shufat refugee camp and Kafr Aqab, two East Jerusalem neighborhoods.

The two areas are currently under the jurisdiction of the so-called Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem, but they are physically cut off from the city as a result of Israel’s apartheid wall.

Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida spotlighted official Palestinian and international warnings against the consequences of the US decision to cut off funding to the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

Al-Ayyam reported UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl warning: “At stake are the rights and dignity of an entire community.”

Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida added in this regard that Belgium pledged $26 million in support for UNRWA.

According to the dailies, an Israeli military court has extended the detention of 16-year-old Palestinian teen filmed slapping an Israeli soldier, Ahed Tamimi, and her mother, Nariman.

Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee Saeb Erekat was reported in al-Ayyam stating that there was no Israeli partner for peace.

According to al-Hayat al-Jadida, Israeli forces detained 21 Palestinians, including a former female prisoner, during multiple overnight raids across the West Bank.

It also reported Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn stating: “If France would lead the way by recognizing Palestine, other countries would follow, including Luxembourg.”

K.F./M.K.