RAMALLAH, Wednesday, September 18, 2019 (WAFA) – The results of Israel’s closely-fought parliamentary elections hit the front page headlines in Wednesday’s issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies.

Al-Quds reported that neither current Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu nor former military chief Benny Gantz won the elections.

Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said that the elections results were not decisive with al-Ayyam describing former Israeli ‘Defense’ Minister Avigdor Lieberman as the king maker, which means that elections resulted in a tie.

The Joint Arab List was reported in al-Ayyam as having garnered more seats than initially expected and in al-Hayat al-Jadida expressing its satisfaction with the election results and affirming that Netanyahu’s era is now over.

Head of the Palestinian Civil Affairs Commission Hussein al-Sheikh was reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida slamming Netanyahu’s allegations of Palestinian Authority’s (PA) interference in the elections as a “justification for the continuation of the rabid campaign against the PA and its leadership.”

According to al-Quds, Palestinians held massive rallies in Gaza expressing their support of renewing the mandate of the United Agency responsible for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

It said that 227 Israeli settlers forced their way to Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that the US is pressuring lawmakers in Germany and Ireland to oppose moves to boycott the products of Israeli settlements.

Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida highlighted Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh’s remarks during the International Conference on Entrepreneurship Palestine 2019 in Bethlehem.

Shtayyeh was reported calling for setting up a mechanism to implement international resolutions pertaining to Palestine and scrutinize the amounts Israel has been deducting from the Palestinian tax revenues.

The dailies said that a Palestinian child was seriously injured during an Israeli military raid in al-Mazraa al-Gharbiyya village, north of Ramallah.

All-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida elaborated that several Palestinians were injured during confrontations with Israeli forces across the West Bank, including a man in Abu Dis town, south of Jerusalem.

Al-Ayyam said that confrontations erupted between Israeli police and Palestinians at Bab al-Majles, one of the gates leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

It added that Israeli police rounded up two Palestinian children from the Jerusalem neighborhood of Essawiya.

It said that Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s Ramon Prison are on an open-ended hunger strike and threaten to make new demands.

It said that Ismail Ziada, a Dutch national of Palestinian descent, has filed a lawsuit against former Israeli armed forces chief Benny Gantz, who stood against Netanyahu in the elections, and another military chief.

According to al-Hayat al-Jadida, Malta has condemned Netanyahu’s comments on ‘annexing’ the West Bank’s Jordan Valley and illegal settlements to Israel.

K.F.