RAMALLAH, Thursday, May 23, 2019 (WAFA) – Official Palestinian statements expressing absolute rejection to attend the two-day ‘Peace to Prosperity’ economic workshop hit the front page headlines in today’s issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies.

Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee Saeb Erekat announcing the Palestinian leadership’s decision not to attend the ‘Peace to Prosperity’ conference, scheduled on June 25-26 in Bahrain’s capital, Manama.

The conference constitutes the economic aspects of the US-touted Mideast plan, dubbed deal of the century, which is designed to force Palestinians into submission to perpetual Israeli dominance.

Erekat was also reported reiterating that the PLO has not mandated anyone to negotiate on its behalf.

He was also reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida stating: “Those concerned and want to serve the interests of the Palestinian people should respect the Palestinian collective position.”

Al-Quds opted to highlight US envoy Jason Greenblatt’s call for dismantling the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

It reported Greenblatt calling for dismantling UNRWA and resettling Palestinian refugees in their host countries.

He was also reported in al-Ayyam slamming the UN agency as “a band-aid” that is “running on fumes”.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh pledging that the government will continue to pay the stipends of the families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and others killed by Israeli forces “even if only a penny is left”.

Additionally, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya was reported in the three dailies stressing that the resolution of the ‘Israeli-Palestinian conflict’ cannot be imposed from the outside and that there are no alternatives to the two-state formula.

Al-Quds posted a translation for the Washington Post’s analysis The Trump-Kushner peace plan looks doomed already.

According to the dailies, the World Health Organization (WHO) had adopted a resolution by an absolute majority in favor of Palestine.

Moreover, al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that Palestinians organized a protest against the German Parliament’s recent resolution equating the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement with anti-Semitism.

They printed a photo showing dozens of protestors gathering outside the German embassy in Ramallah, urging the Bundestag to revoke the resolution.

Al-Quds reported well-informed Palestinian sources unveiling the series of steps that Israel plans to take as part of implementing the calm understanding with Palestinian factions in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The dailies said that Israeli forces shot and injured two Palestinians and detained others during a raid into Dheisheh refugee camp, south of Bethlehem.

The dailies added that Israeli fanatics forced their way into East Jerusalem’s flashpoint al-Aqsa Mosque compound. According to al-Quds, 72 fanatics and intelligence officers stormed the Muslim holy site.

Al-Quds said that dozens of Israeli settlers stormed the archeological site of Sebastia, north of Nablus.

It added that Israel has decided to return 65 confiscated fishing boats to fisherman in the Gaza Strip.

Al-Ayyam spotlighted Israeli human rights group B‘Tselem‘s article Settlers torch fields in Burin   and ‘Asirah al-Qibliyah.

It reported Special Coordinator of the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov warning that “the situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is of growing concern to all of us” and that the United Nations’ humanitarian efforts in Gaza will fail.

Mladenov stated exactly: “The United Nations and its partners have - yet again – tried to mitigate the impact of the crisis in Gaza, but these efforts will ultimately fail unless there is progress on resolving the Palestinian divide, on lifting the closures and on charting a course towards the two-State solution based on long-standing international parameters, including relevant UN resolutions and previous agreements.”

He made his remarks during a briefing to the UN Security Council on the situation in the Middle East.

Al-Ayyam also reported the Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land warning: “all talk of political solution seems empty rhetoric in the present situation.”

Al-Hayat al-Jadida said that the Palestine Investment Fund inaugurated the first solar panel plant in the West Bank city of Jericho.

 K.F./M.K.