RAMALLAH, July 17, 2018 (WAFA) – The Israeli collective punishment of the Gaza Strip to pressure Palestinians to stop the Great March of Return protests amid escalating tensions and frustration over the Israeli-imposed 12-year crippling siege dominated the front page headlines in Palestinian dailies on Tuesday.
The dailies reported that Israeli occupation authorities closed Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing, used for the entry of goods into the coastal enclave, and reduced the fishing zone to the fishermen in Gaza from six to three nautical miles until further notice.
They added that Israeli drones carried out renewed airstrikes hitting two sites east of Jabaliya and Beit Hanoun towns in the northern Gaza Strip.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida also reported in this regard that Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Naftali Bennett endorsed using drones to directly target Gaza children.
Furthermore, al-Quds reported that the UN Special Coordinator on the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov’s plan to save Gaza does not constitute a substitute for the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
It added that Mladenov’s plan is aimed at the rehabilitation of four sectors and prevention of war.
Al-Quds said that a total of 81 Israeli Jewish settlers forced their way into East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and settlers organizations called for settlers to rally marking Tisha B’Av Day, which commemorates the ‘destruction of the temple’.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported General Director of the Islamic Waqf Department Azzam al-Khatib warning of Israeli excavations beneath the Islamic compound and the tunnels that would run from beneath the holy site to Silwan.
Al-Quds also reported that Israeli occupation authorities have decided to seize 200 dunums of land belonging to al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem.
According to al-Ayyam, settlers carried out several attacks against Palestinians in the southern West Bank city of Hebron and destroyed crops in al-Khader.
They reportedly threw rocks and attacked a Palestinian home in the heart of Hebron, causing damage and terrorizing its residents. They also threw rocks and garbage at another home and destroyed crops planted in the surrounding.
It added that settlers started the construction of a new settlement outpost on lands belonging to Khirbet al-Muzuqah in the northern Jordan Valley.
The dailies added the Education Ministry cut short the summer break and started the schoolyear at the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar, east of Jerusalem, under heightened threat of demolition.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem stating that paramedic Razan Najjar, 21, was intentionally murdered by an Israeli sniper while trying to aid wounded protestors near Gaza border fence in June.
Moreover, al-Quds highlighted the decision of the City Council of the Moroccan city of Agadir to name 40 streets after Palestinian cities.
It added that a group of young American Jews left the Birthright tour of Israel for presenting a one-sided story of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Al-Ayyam said that the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided to launch “a system of public information and outreach activities” for the benefit of the victims of war crimes in Palestine.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida added that Foreign and Expatriates Minister Riyad Malki called for providing protection for Khan al-Ahmar community during a meeting with ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida said Secretary-General of the PLO’s Executive Committee Saeb Erekat decried attempts to smear PLO Negotiations Affairs Department staffer Xavier Abu Eid.
It said that scores of UNRWA employees rallied in Nablus city to express their rejection of the decision of the administration of the UN agency to lay off hundreds of employees.
K.F./M.K.
