RAMALLAH, Friday, March 8, 2019 (WAFA) – The death of a 15-year-old Palestinian from wounds he sustained from Israeli gunfire along the eastern border of northern Gaza hit the front page headlines in Friday’s issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies.

The dailies reported that a Palestinian boy succumbed to his wounds he sustained after being shot by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Seif al-Din Abu Zeid succumbed to his wounds just few hours after he was shot and wounded in the head by Israeli gunfire as he was participating in a protest on the northern Gaza Strip’s border with Israel on Wednesday evening.

Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said that four Palestinians were shot and injured by Israeli forces as they participated in nighttime protests in the eastern Gaza city close to the border with Israel. Al-Quds said there were six injuries.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam also reported that Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded several sites in the besieged coastal enclave.

The latest spate of Palestinian home demolitions in the West Bank also hit the front page headlines in the dailies.

The dailies said that Israeli forces demolished the family house of Palestinian prisoner Assem Barghouthi in his hometown of Kobar, north of Ramallah.

Assem Barghouthi who was detained by Israeli forces on January 8 following a month-long manhunt, is still in Israeli detention.

He is suspected of carrying out a shooting attack, killing two Israeli soldiers on December 13, one day after his brother, Saleh, was reportedly shot and killed by Israeli forces north of Ramallah.

According to al-Ayyam, Israeli forces delivered an order to demolish the house of Assem’s father, Omar, 68, who is held in administrative detention.

Spotlighting other home demolitions, al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said that an Israeli bulldozer demolished a Palestinian house in al-Mas‘udiyya area of the village of Burqa in the northern West Bank.

Al-Ayyam added that Israeli forces also demolished a Palestinian residential tent and animal barns in Masafer Yatta in the southern Hebron hills.

According to al-Quds, Israeli bulldozers demolished the unrecognized Palestinian Bedouin village of al-Araqib in the Naqab desert for the 141th time.

Additionally, al-Ayyam said that Israeli forces detained 22 Palestinians, including six women, during multiple raids across the West Bank.

It added that dozens of Palestinians suffocated from the effects of tear gas fired by Israeli troops in the Bethlehem-district refugee camp of Dheisheh and Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Eissawiya. Among the suffocation cases, al-Hayat al-Jadida noted, was a 40-day-old infant.

Furthermore, al-Quds spotlighted Egypt’s ongoing efforts to broker an understanding to restore calm between Israel and the Palestinian factions in Gaza.

It reported a Qatari website claiming that a Hamas-Israel deal might be struck very soon.

Besides, the dailies spotlighted Chairman of the Central Elections Commission Hanna Nasser’s visit to Gaza for talks with Hamas leaders over the elections.

Al-Quds reported Nasser announcing that he was going to brief President Mahmoud Abbas on the positive ideas he has received from Hamas.

Al-Ayyam reported Chief Electoral Officer Hisham Kuhail stating that Hamas supports holding legislative and presidential elections and shows flexibility on the date of the Palestinian National Council’s elections.

Fatah spokesman Atef Abu Seif was also reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida reiterating that elections are quickest and easiest way out of the intra-Palestinian division.

Yet, al-Quds reported that Israeli police are on high alert in Jerusalem, particularly in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, as Palestinian Muslims continued to barricade themselves at Bab al-Rahma prayer area.

Following the recent closure and merging of the US Consulate in Jerusalem with its embassy in Israel, al-Ayyam reported Secretary-General of the PLO’s Executive Committee Saeb Erekat warning that dealing with the US embassy in Jerusalem legalizes an unlawful measure.

According to al-Hayat al-Jadida, Palestinians took to the streets in al-Jalazoun refugee camp, north of Ramallah, and Ein al-Sultan refugee camp, northwest of Jericho, in support of Abbas.

It reported presidential advisor Nabil Abu Rudeineh stating that despite the tough challenges facing the Question of Palestine, we would triumph thanks to the Palestinian people’s steadfastness and Abbas’ commitment to the fixed principles.

Finally, al-Hayat al-Jadida reported the Palestine Prisoner’s Society saying that a total of 50 Palestinian women, including nine injured women, are still held in Israeli detention.

K.F.