RAMALLAH, May 3, 2018 (WAFA) – Palestinian official comments defending President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech at the Palestinian National Council in Ramallah hit the front page headlines in Palestinian Arabic dailies on Thursday.

Al-Quds reported that Israel was leading a campaign of international incitement against Abbas, labeling his recent remarks on Jews as anti-Semite.

It added that Washington, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations were on the same page with regards to condemning Abbas’ speech over purported anti-Semitic remarks on Jews.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported that Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee Saeb Erekat expressed his astonishment at the “coordinated Israeli attack (campaign),” which branded Abbas as anti-Semite.

He was also reported in al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida stating: “Abbas has never denied massacres that were perpetrated against Jews, including the Holocaust” and “believes in peace and negotiations ]with Israel[.”

The Palestinian National Council’s (PNC) session on the third day also gripped the front page headlines in the dailies.

The dailies reported that the PNC convened for the third day in a row and made preparations to elect members of the Palestinian Central Council (PCC) and the PLO’s Executive Committee.

According to al-Quds and al-Ayyam, the PNC is expected to end its four-day session and issue the final communiqué today.

Furthermore, al-Quds reported that the Palestine and Norway signed a $2.71 million agreement in support of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

With regards to the situation in the besieged Gaza Strip, the dailies reported that four Palestinians were injured with live ammunition fired by Israeli snipers as they participated in the March of Return protests to the east of Jabaliya.

Al-Ayyam added that special Israeli forces have deployed near the Return camps, located to the east of al-Bureij refugee camp.

It also reported that an incendiary kite flown by Palestinian protestors in Gaza sparked blaze in Israeli forests along Gaza border.

The dailies reported that Israeli bulldozers demolished five residential structures in Masafer Yatta area in the southern West Bank district of Hebron.

Al-Ayyam said that Israeli forces conducted a raid into Azzun town, east of Qalqiliya in the northern West Bank.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida added that Israeli forces delivered an order to demolish a Palestinian home in Beit Jala city in Bethlehem district.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported that a number of Palestinians were physically attacked by Israeli police as the latter continued to desecrate the historic Bab al-Rahmeh Islamic cemetery, next to East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, for the fourth day in a row.

Referring to a news report by the Lebanese daily newspaper of al-Akhbar, al-Quds reported that Saudi Arabia have requested that Egypt halts pressure on Abbas in preparation for peace negotiations with Israel.

Egyptian presidential spokesperson Bassan Radi was reported in al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida stating that solving the Palestinian question would promote the culture of peace in the Middle East.

The dailies added that scores of Palestinians, including schoolchildren, were poisoned as a result of burning medical waste in Bani Naim town, east of Hebron, prompting the Palestinian Red Crescent to open an inquiry.

According to al-Ayyam, Israeli bulldozers demolished a home and shop belonging to a Palestinian citizen of Israel in the central Israel Arab town of Taybeh.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah calling on Germany to support Abbas’ proposed peace plan to convene an international conference to end the Israeli occupation.

Hamdallah reportedly made his remarks during a meeting with Minister President of Brandenburg Dietmar Woidke in Ramallah.

It also reported that a conglomerate of Italian organizations rejected a decision to hold the opening stages of the Giro d’Italia sporting event in Israel.

It also reported that the Palestine Investment Fund has increased its assets to $991 million.

K.F./M.K.