RAMALLAH, January 25, 2018 (WAFA) – The demolition of several Palestinian structures in the Jordan Valley and the northern West Bank district of Nablus by Israeli forces dominated the front page headlines in Palestinian Arabic dailies on Thursday.
The dailies reported that Israeli forces demolished a home in al-Jiftlek village, north of Jericho, in the West Bank area of the Jordan Valley.
They added that Israeli forces also demolished an animal barn and three shacks near Aqraba village, south of Nablus.
Furthermore, al-Quds reported that clashes erupted between Israeli troops and Palestinians at the entrance to Burqa village, north of Nablus. According to al-Hayat al-Jadida, Israeli troops shot and injured a Palestinian teen during the clashes. The teen was reportedly identified as 16-year-old Muhyi al-Din Salah.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida said that Israeli forces conducted multiple overnight raids across the West Bank, detaining 16 Palestinians, including a woman and a child.
Moreover, al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported that Jewish fanatics, known as ‘Temple Mount’ organizations, called on followers to force their way into East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
They added that the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, was scheduled to discuss during the next week a bill to the Muslim call to prayer.
Regarding President Mahmoud Abbas’ recent calls that the European Union (EU) recognize the State of Palestine, al-Quds said that it was unlikely that the EU states would currently do so. It added in this regard that EU’s actions fail to match its rhetoric.
Al-Quds reported that Washington believes that there was no alternative to the US as a mediator for the Middle East peace process.
Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee Saeb Erekat was reported in al-Ayyam stating that Palestinians would reject any US peace initiative as long as the US fails to reverse its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Al-Quds reported that former US Secretary of State John Kerry told a close Palestinian Authority associate that Abbas should not yield to US President Donald Trump’s demands.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem saying that Israel has imposed severe restrictions on prison visits by immediate family members to Gazans held in jails inside Israel.
Al-Ayyam also spotlighted media reports that a secret Knesset subcommittee had conducted a secret investigation into whether members of Ahed Tamimi’s family were a “real family”.
K.F./M.K.
