Clashes that erupted at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as hundreds of hardline Israelis stormed the esplanade to commemorate Tisha B’av hit the front page headlines in Palestinian daily newspapers.
The three dailies said hundreds of hardline settlers forced their way into Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Israeli police assaulted ]Palestinian[ worshippers. Al-Ayyam said a total of 400 settlers forced their way into the esplanade.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said 15 Palestinians sustained injuries after being assaulted by police.
New Israeli plans to grab Palestinian land and build settlements in Bethlehem district also hit the front page headlines in the dailies.
Al-Quds said Israel laid the groundwork to seize and isolate a total of 11,700 dunums of Palestinian land belonging to Bethlehem district.
Al-Ayyam explained in this regard that Israeli authorities are considering announcing plans to seize Palestinian land in Bethlehem district in order to expand the Israeli settlement of Efrat.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida said Israeli authorities plan to isolate Bethlehem through the construction of a new settlement.
Highlighting settlement construction plans in Ramallah district, al-Quds and al-Ayyam said Israel approved the construction of 4,200 new settler units in Modiin Illit settlement, west of Ramallah.
The three dailies said a Palestinian girl was detained after allegedly stabbing an Israeli soldier at a military checkpoint, west of Jenin, in the northern West Bank. Al-Quds and al-Ayyam added that four members of the girl’s family were subsequently detained.
Al-Quds said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the closure of al-Khan al-Ahmer Primary School in the Bedouin communities, east of Jerusalem.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said the Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal submitted by the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs to release hunger-striking Palestinian brothers Muhammad and Mahmoud Balboul from administrative detention.
Al-Ayyam reported Palestinian human rights organizations called for an investigation to be opened into mounting Israeli authorities’ threats and smear campaign against Palestinian human rights organizations members and staff.
Source : WAFA