RAMALLAH, Monday, July 1, 2019 (WAFA) – The attendance of US officials at the inauguration of an appropriated archaeological site in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan hit the front page headlines in Monday’s issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported that White House advisor Jason Greenblatt and US ambassador to Israel David Friedman attended Elad-sponsored inauguration ceremony of a tunnel in Silwan.

Al-Quds elaborated that the tunnels runs from ‘Ayn Silwan to al-Buraq Square, also known to Jews as the Western Wall Plaza.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida said in this regard that Friedman broke open a tunnel in the archaeological settler project running under the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan.

The dailies added in this regard that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas raised the alarm about Israel excavations in occupied Jerusalem and calls for urgent action.

They also reported Jordan’s condemnation of Israel’s inauguration of the tunnel under Silwan.

Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman was reported in al-Quds warning that such as action would fuel tensions, while he was reported in al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reiterating his country’s rejection of any Israeli attempt to alter the identity of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Additionally, the dailies reported that an Israeli court has legalized 2,000 settler units which were in part constructed without licenses on private Palestinian lands.

The structures are located in the illegal settlement of Alei Zahav, close to Deir Ballout village in the Salfit district.

Settlement outposts were built without official approval from Israeli authorities, but tacitly supported by successive Israeli governments as part of an effort to colonize as much Palestinian land in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as possible. Under International law, all Israeli settlements, including outposts, are illegal.

According to al-Quds, Palestinians submitted a letter to the French Consul in Jerusalem Pierre Cochard in protest of the inauguration of the “Place de Jérusalem” plaza  in Paris following an Israeli request.

Cochard was reported in al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reiterating his country’s firm position on Jerusalem as the capital of both states, Israel and Palestine.

The dailies said that President Abbas called Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Fadi al-Hadmi to congratulate him on his release from Israeli detention.

Al-Hadmi was briefly detained by Israeli police from his home in East Jerusalem following pressures from the Israeli right wing on the Israeli government after al-Hadmi accompanied Chilean President Sebastian Pinera in a tour in Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Still, al-Ayyam reported that Israeli occupation forces “continued their aggression” against the East Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Issawiya for the fourth consecutive day.

It also reported that Palestinians have refused to comply with the conditions set by Israeli occupation authorities to release the body of Mohammad Samir Obeid.

Obeid, 20, was killed by Israeli police during confrontations in al-Issawiya on Thursday night.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that Israel’s Supreme Court dismisses an appeal against the demolition of 16 Palestinian apartments in Wadi al-Hummus area, located on the edge of Sur Baher, in the southeast of Jerusalem.

It should be reiterated in this regard that Israeli courts, seen as the last judicial recourse against demolitions, in fact are complicit in perpetuating the Israeli policies of forcible transfer against Palestinians.

According to al-Quds and al-Ayyam, Israeli settlers physically assaulted a Palestinian in al-Shuhada Street in Hebron.

Al-Quds added that settlers also forced their way into the archeological site of Sebastia, near Nablus.

Premier Mohammad Shtayyeh was reported in al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida urging UK to put pressure on Israel to release the total amount of tax revenues.

According to al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida, President Abbas extended his condolences to his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi over the victims of the two terrorist attacks in Tunisia.

Al-Ayyam said that the Higher National Committee for the Great March of Return Protests in Gaza has decided to stop the lunching of incendiary balloons to southern Israel in compliance with the calm understandings.

Finally, al-Hayat al-Jadida said that CEO of the Palestinian National Fund Ramzi Khoury represented President Abbas at the graduation of Zahwa, the daughter of late President Yasser Arafat, in Paris.

K.F.