RAMALLAH, Friday, January 18, 2019 (WAFA) – Warnings about Israel’s attempts to change the status quo at East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound dominated the front page headlines in Palestinian Arabic dailies on Friday.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported Palestinian Muslim authorities in Jerusalem warning against Israel’s attempts to change the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported several Palestinian figures in Jerusalem stating that they would never allow Israeli occupation authorities to turn Palestinian holy sites in Jerusalem into a testing ground ]for changing the status quo[ to win settlers’ satisfaction for electoral gains.
Al-Quds explained that Palestinian Muslim authorities made these warnings following Israeli police and settlers forced their way into the Marawani and Dome of the Rock mosques inside the compound.
One police officer attempted to enter the Dome of the Rock wearing a kippah before Israeli forces imposed a closure on the compound for several hours.
Elaborating on this issue, al-Ayyam said that Israeli occupation authorities are getting prepared to carry out renovations for the western wall of the mosque compound following excavations that exposed its foundations.
Additionally, al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported US Envoy for the Middle East Jason Greenblatt dismissing Israeli media reports on US President Donald Trump’s Mideast plan, dubbed deal of the century, as inaccurate.
They added that Israel is slated to take a decision on the transfer of Qatari grant to Hamas in the besieged Gaza Strip based on the nature of Friday’s rallies.
Moreover, al-Quds said that a Palestinian was killed and 13 others injured in Gaza as severe weather conditions swept the region.
According to al-Hayat al-Jadida, scores of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza were injured as a result of the weather conditions.
Furthermore, al-Quds said that Israel is pressurizing several states to relocate their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The dailies reported that the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee is scheduled to hold a consultative meeting on Monday January 21st.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam highlighted Israeli human rights Group B‘Tselem’s report Israeli security forces killed 290 Palestinians in 2018; most were victims of a reckless open-fire policy.
Yet, al-Ayyam spotlighted AFP’s news report Hamas unveils Iran-funded homes for former Israel prisoners.
It reported the Lebanese army confirming that it has detained a US citizen who has infiltrated southern Lebanon from Israel.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said that Palestinian marine forces rescued six Egyptian fishermen whose fishing boat had been destroyed due to strong waves near Gaza and took arrangements to return them to Egypt via Rafah border crossing.
Furthermore, al-Hayat al-Jadida said that Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails Sami Abu-Diak has lost a great amount of his weight and is no longer able to sleep due to severe pain.
Abu-Diak, who comes from the West Bank town of Silat al-Dahr, is serving a life sentence and so far served 18 years in Israeli jails. He is a cancer patient.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida also spotlighted member of PLO’s Executive Committee Azzam al-Ahmad’s visit to Lebanon.
It reported him commending Lebanon on its rejection the curtailment of the Palestinian people’s right to establish the independent Palestinian state.
K.F.
