RAMALLAH, Saturday, May 25, 2019 (WAFA) – The three Palestinian Arabic dailies highlighted on their front page today the over 100,000 Muslim worshippers from all over Palestine who attended the third Friday of Ramadan prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City.

They also printed pictures of people praying, as appeared in al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida, and of tanker spraying water on the worshippers to help them overcome the excruciating heat wave and 40 degrees Celsius temperature, as appeared in al-Quds daily.

The papers said the crowds, who came from all over Palestine, battled not only the heat wave but also Israeli military checkpoints at the entrances to Jerusalem to have the rare opportunity of praying at their third holiest site, an opportunity they get only one month a year during Ramadan since their access to Jerusalem’s holy sites and freedom of worship and movement during the entire year is restricted by Israeli military checkpoint and very scare permits.

The papers also said the heat wave that hit Palestine over the last few days caused dozens of fires throughout the land, including to hundreds of trees and cultivated land.

Al-Ayyam printed a picture of burnt land in Qabatiya in the north of the West Bank, while al-Quds showed people in Gaza getting relief from the heat by going to the sea.

Al-Ayyam said dozens of Palestinians were injured in the West Bank when Israeli soldiers cracked down on the weekly protest in Kufr Qaddoum village and 16 others were injured in the March of Return protests on the Gaza border with Israel.

It said Cairo expects to have a breakthrough in intra-Palestinian reconciliation as it gets ready to introduce a reconciliation plan after the Ramadan holiday.

Al-Quds quoted Hamas saying that it will not take lightly Israel’s avoidance of the calm understandings recently reached between them.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida said Fatah deputy chairman Mahmoud Aloul delivered a letter from President Mahmoud Abbas to his North Korean counterpart.

Both al-Hayat al-Jadida and al-Ayyam said Palestinian presence was very visible at the Caan film festival with directors Wisam Ja’afari and Elia Suleiman.

In international news, the papers reported on the resignation of Britain’s Teresa May and the conflict between US President Donald Trump and the Democrats, as well as the latest difficulties of forming a government in Israel.

M.K.