RAMALLAH, February 22, 2018 (WAFA) – The three Palestinian Arabic dailies highlighted on their Thursday front page different subjects related to Israel’s construction of a new settlement in the occupied West Bank, the expected downfall of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu due to corruption charges and the never-ending Israeli army crackdown on peaceful Palestinian protests in the West Bank.
Al-Ayyam focused in its main front page story on the construction of the new settlement, Amihai, near Nablus to house the illegal settlers evicted from Amona settlement outpost only to be housed in a new huge settlement the Israeli government is going to build for them. It said this will be the first large settlement to be built in the occupied territories in more than 25 years.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported on the same subject at the bottom of its front page, but opted to give prominence to Israeli military measures in the occupied areas, including crackdown on peaceful protests, demolition of Palestinian structures and Jewish settlers spreading havoc in the West Bank. It said a Palestinian died in Gaza from wounds sustained during border confrontations with Israeli soldiers on Friday.
Al-Ayyam and al-Quds reported on the Israeli measures on its front page, but al-Quds highlighted analysts and observers saying that the Netanyahu era is almost over.
The other two papers also said that Netanyahu is on his way out as prime minister of Israel after reports said one of his close associates is going to testify against him.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida and al-Ayyam said the Arab League has come out in support of President Mahmoud Abbas and his peace plan he submitted at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, and al-Quds quoted analysts praising Abbas’ initiative describing it as a significant step to abort the American “deal of the century” plan.
Al-Quds also reported high on its front page on remarks by the US State Department that it will consider participation of international parties in a future peace process, and said that the Quartet is considering meeting in the near future to look into the future of the peace process. It said that Washington has asked members of the Security Council to support its “peace plan.”
The paper published an op ed piece by an official of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, Scott Anderson, who warned of the consequences of the cut in US aid to UNRWA. It also quoted UNRWA spokesman in Gaza, Adnan Abu Hasna, saying that an Arab telecommunications company is helping the refugee agency and Kuwait provided $900,000 in aid.
Al-Ayyam said Egypt closed once again the Rafah crossing with Gaza, only hours after announcing that it will be open for four days that gave hope to thousands of Palestinians stranded at Cairo airport and at both sides of the Rafah crossing to be able to travel to and from the Gaza Strip. The paper said the closure of the crossing was sudden and has caused big confusion among the stranded Palestinians.
The paper also said Gaza municipalities have shut down the beaches in order to pump sewage into the sea after the generators stopped working due to shortage in fuel.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida said the government denounced what it called as the hostile campaign by parties in Hamas against it and the Palestinian leadership.
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