RAMALLAH, Tuesday, October 08, 2019 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud  Abbas meeting yesterday with the head of the Central Elections Commission (CEC), Hanna Nasser, during which the president asked Nasser to start preparing for general elections in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip was covered on the front page of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies today.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida made this topic its main front page story, while al-Ayyam had it lower on the front page under a picture of Abbas and Nasser conferring in the Muqata, the presidential headquarters. Al-Quds had it in a box on the top corner of the front page.

The lead story in Al-Quds focused on the death of a Palestinian in Gaza from wounds sustained several months ago when he was shot by Israeli forces during the Return March protests on the Gaza border with Israel.

This story was also covered in al-Ayyam, which made Israeli cutting down of trees and razing of land in the West Bank for settlement construction, as well as clashes with soldiers in Nablus and wide-scale detentions its main front page story.

The three papers also reported on Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh saying that despite the agreement with Israel on the clearance funds, the financial problem did not go away.

Al-Quds reported on disagreement within the Israeli cabinet over transferring the clearance money to the Palestinian Authority.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida quoted Palestinian head of the Civil Affairs Authority, Hussein Al-Sheikh saying that reactivating the joint technical committees with Israel is a first step toward ending “piracy of our money.”

It also said Shtayyeh headed a delegation of ministers on an official visit to Cairo to hold joint ministerial meetings.

Al-Ayyam said Israel remanded in custody Samer Arbeed, who was tortured by Israeli interrogators to almost death and is laying in an Israeli hospital in critical condition, and prevented his lawyer from seeing him.

M.K.