RAMALLAH, Wednesday, January 16, 2019 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas’ assumption of the chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China dominated the front page headlines in Palestinian dailies.
The dailies reported that Abbas assumed the chairmanship of the Group 77 and China, the biggest United Nations bloc of developing countries.
The dailies also highlighted Abbas’ speech during a ceremony which marked the start of Palestine’s chairmanship of the biggest UN bloc of developing countries.
Abbas was reported in al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida stating: “Israel’s continued colonisation and occupation of the State of Palestine undermines our development and capacity for cooperation, coordination and obstructs the cohesive future development of all peoples of the region.”
Additionally, al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that three Italians ]working for the Italian embassy[ were released by Hamas’ security forces after being held at the a UN office in Gaza.
Furthermore, al-Quds said that the Palestinian cabinet condemned Israel’s attempts to undermine Palestinian sovereignty and warned against Israeli incitement campaigns against Abbas.
Demonstrations across the West Bank against the controversial Social Security Law also hit the front page headlines in the dailies.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported that thousands of Palestinians staged a sit-in outside the Social Security Corporation in Ramallah against the law, while al-Quds added that Palestinians also staged their first protest against the law in Gaza.
The dailies added in this regard that the Palestinian cabinet approved amendments that have been introduced to the law to address the concerns of its critics.
The General Supervisor of the Social Security Corporation Majed el-Helo was reported in al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida saying that the social security benefits will extend to the widows and heirs of pensioners after their death.
According to al-Quds, Israeli forces infiltrated dozens of meters to the north of Beit Hanoun in the northern besieged Gaza Strip.
It added that Israeli military targeted a security post for Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed military wing of Hamas, east of Khan Younes.
Yet, al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that Israeli police banned four employees of the Muslim Waqf (endowment) department entry into Al-Aqsa Mosque compound ]for one week[ amid ongoing settlers’ intrusions into the holy site.
They added that Israeli occupation authorities handed demolition notices for a number of residential houses in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.
According to al-Quds and al-Ayyam, settlers leveled 30 dunums of Palestinian land in Khirbet Yanoon, south of Nablus city.
Member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee Azzam al-Ahmad was reported in al-Ayyam announcing that Abbas would visit Syria soon.
According to al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida, several Palestinian families have secured a court order putting on hold an order t evict them from their houses in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Al-Quds added that the Sabbagh family is facing an imminent catastrophe since they received an eviction order from Israeli authorities so as Israeli settlers could move into their houses in East Jerusalem.
Al-Ayyam said that Israeli military conducted drills using live ammunition in al-Aqaba and Tayseer villages in the northern Jordan Valley.
It said that the Palestinian Supreme Court of Justice issued a ruling suspending Attorney General Ahmad Barrak
