RAMALLAH, June 19, 2017 (WAFA) – The violent raid by Israeli special forces of East Jerusalem’s Muslim holy place, Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, was the main front page headlines of the Monday issue of the three local Palestinian dailies.
The raid occurred after Muslim worshippers confronted Jewish extremists who provoked the worshippers after police allowed them onto the mosque compound.
Al-Ayyam noted that a total of 150 special police officers stormed the mosque compound and assaulted Muslim worshippers.
Al-Quds added special police detained eight Palestinians from the compound and assaulted and injured 30 others, including the director of Al-Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Omar Kiswani.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida added special police forces mounted the rooftop of the southern building of the mosque and smashed historical windows.
The dailies said the Palestinian government condemned the police raid into the mosque compound as a “serious escalation” and Jordan protested the raid, calling on Israel to immediately put a stop it.
Al-Ayyam added Israeli police continued provocations against Palestinians in East Jerusalem following the deadly attack on Friday that left three Palestinians and one Israeli police officer dead. It said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepped up his incitement against the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The dailies also reported Israeli forces shot and injured two Palestinians and detained a prisoner’s wife during a raid into Deir Abu Mishal village, northwest of Ramallah.
The village remained under lockdown for the third consecutive day after three Palestinians from the village were shot dead by Israeli police following the Friday attack.
The dailies added Israeli forces sealed the eastern and western entrances to al-Mughayyer village, northeast of Ramallah.
They also sealed a number of main roads in Bethlehem district, separating the eastern rural villages from Bethlehem city.
Al-Quds said the White House is recruiting Congress support for US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace initiative.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said the Israeli Committee for Legislation approved a bill banning Israel’s Supreme Court from hearing appeals submitted by Palestinians against the expropriation of their land in the West Bank.
It reported international human rights watchdog Amnesty International stating the looming humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged Gaza Strip highlights the need to lift Israel’s 10-year illegal siege.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida said the Palestinian Center for Human Rights called on the United Nations to provide protection for the Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Furthermore, al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida highlighted statements by deputy chairman of Hamas politburo, Khalil al-Hayya, in which he called on for the establishment of a “national rescue front” to challenge the PA and confirmed Hamas’ collaboration with discharged Fatah leader Muhammad Dahlan.
Al-Ayyam reported al-Hayya claiming the departure of several Hamas leaders from Qatar was part of a “redeployment” plan.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Fatah slamming al-Hayya’s statements as “contradictory and false” and that they were intended to mislead the Palestinian public opinion.
K.F./M.K.
