RAMALLAH, Wednesday, February 13, 2019 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas’ visit to Riyadh and meeting with Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz dominated the front page headlines in Palestinian Arabic dailies.
Highlighting this them as its main news article, al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that President Abbas met with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and briefed him on the risks to which the Palestinian question is exposed.
Al-Ayyam reported the Saudi monarch affirming his permanent support to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, while al-Quds reported him stating that his country stands with the Palestinian rights.
On the other hand, al-Quds opted to highlight the Russian-sponsored talks among Palestinian factions with the aim of restoring unity and forming a united front to oppose US President Donald Trump’s Mideast plan, dubbed deal of the century.
Al-Quds reported Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warning that the so-called deal of the century would “destroy everything that has been done so far” and urging representatives of Palestinian factions to overcome the intra-Palestinian division.
Al-Ayyam added in this regard that the joint statement, the Moscow Declaration, states that the Palestinian factions are determined to end the division and reject any plans aiming to separate the Gaza Strip from the West Bank.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida added that representatives of the participating Palestinian factions stressed in the Moscow Declaration the unity of the Palestinian people and territories.
The declaration, al-Hayat al-Jadida elaborated, states that the Palestinian people has the right to resist the Israeli occupation using all legitimate means and methods as well as to resist attempts to label any Palestinian faction as “terrorism”.
Additionally, the dailies reported that a Palestinian teenager died of his wounds he suatined from Israeli gunfire in the eastern besieged Gaza Strip on Friday.
Hassan Noufal, 17, succumbed to his critical wounds he had from an Israeli military tear gas canister that hit his head as he participated in a Great March of Return protest east of al-Bureij refugee camp on last Friday.
Furthermore, al-Quds reported that the Israeli occupation authorities have ordered 50 Palestinian families to leave their homes in the Jordan Valley ahead of military drills.
According to al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah has issued instructions for finding a solution for the daily traffic jam at Qalandia, north of Jerusalem.
Regarding house demolitions, al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that Israel demolished three Palestinian houses and a store in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Silwan and Jabal al-Mukabbir.
Al-Quds added that a Palestinian man was forced to demolish his own house following an order from the Israeli occupation authorities in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Baher.
Besides, the dailies said that the European Union (EU) missions regret the extension of the Israeli ban on Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem.
Al-Quds reported the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Muhammad Hussein warning against Israeli persistent desecration of the ancient Palestinian Muslim cemetery of Ma’man Allah (Mamilla) in Jerusalem.
The dailies said that the UN black list of Israeli and international businesses doing business in Israeli settlements in the West Bank would be issued in March.
Al-Quds said that the Palestinians have widely rejected the US-led Warsaw Conference, and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Secretary-General of Fatah Central Committee Jibril Rajoub reaffirming Palestinian rejection of the conference.
Al-Ayyam said in this regard that the US has lowered its expectations on the conference, which will neither focus on Iran nor create a coalition against it.
According to al-Ayyam, the autopsy of Fares Baroud reveals that he died as a result of medical negligence although he suffered from several chronic serious diseases.
Baroud, 51, died shortly after he was transferred from Rimon (Ramon) prison in the south of Israel to an Israeli hospital following deterioration in his health. He was arrested in March 1991 and was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing an Israeli settler in the Gaza Strip.
K.F.
