RAMALLAH, September 29, 2018 (WAFA) – Israeli army killing of seven Palestinians in one day of protests on the Gaza border with Israel on Friday was the highlight on the front page of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies on Saturday.
The papers said the seven included two children and were shot dead as thousands of Palestinians protested the 12-year-long Israeli blockade on Gaza and demanding their right to return to their homes in historic Palestine they were forced to leave 70 years ago. Hundreds were also injured, some of them critical.
The papers also reported on the West Bank protests, including the one at Khan al-Ahmar, east of Jerusalem, which is awaiting imminent destruction and expulsion of its residents.
Al-Ayyam said dozens were injured in the West Bank protests, including an infant suffocated from the heavy tear gas fired at the protesters.
In other news, al-Ayyam said US envoy Jason Greenblatt made an “unprecedented” attack on the Palestinians accusing the leadership of undermining economic development in the West Bank, while al-Quds quoted Palestinian finance minister, Shukri Bishara, telling the donor countries meeting through the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) in New York that the Israeli occupation and US defunding of Palestinians policy have hurt economic development prospects.
Al-Quds also quoted US ambassador to Israeli, David Friedman, saying there is a problem with the term of two-state solution and that the US favors Israel’s security.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida said Palestine is taking the US to the International Court of Justice over moving its embassy to Jerusalem.
The papers also reported on the AHLC conference in New York, which came up with $122 million to aid the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
They also reported on Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah telling the conference that his government will continue to provide to its Palestinian constituency despite the economic difficulties.
Al-Ayyam said the Islamic Jihad named a new leader, Ziad Nakhaleh, 65, to replace Ramadan Shallah, who has served as head of the movement since 1995 following Israel’s assassination of its founder Fathi Shikaki and named the members of its political bureau in Gaza and in the Diaspora but did not name those in the occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank, inside Israel and in Israeli jails to spare them harassment and arrest by Israel, which outlaws the Islamic Jihad organization.
The paper also said Egypt is going to introduce a new mechanism to implement the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement.
Al-Quds quoted Palestinian-Israeli lawmaker Ahmad Tibi saying that putting an end to crime in the Arab community in Israel is not a priority for the Israeli government under Benjamin Netanyahu.
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