Newspaper Review: Leadership seeking UN actions on Palestinian suffering focus of dailies

News about the commencement of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee meeting hit the front page headlines of the three Arabic Palestinian dailies on Sunday.

Al-Quds, al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said that during the commencement, which took place in the presidential headquarters in Ramallah, the occupied West Bank, President Mahmoud Abbas said that the leadership will seek action in the United Nations regarding the suffering of the Palestinian people, especially in the aftermath of the recent US and Israeli positions.

President Abbas added the PLO Central Council will convene following the Palestinian action in the UN in order to decide on all matters, such as the issue of al-Aqsa mosque and the issue of Khan Al-Ahmar.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that the US administration has decided to halt $10 million in funding to Palestinian-Israeli youth organizations.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida and al-Ayyam said that three young Palestinians who were shot dead by Israeli soldiers on Friday during the Gaza border protests were laid to rest on Saturday in their hometowns across Gaza.

According to the papers, French-American activist Frank Romano started a hunger strike on Friday after he and four other Palestinians were detained by Israeli police when they, along with other activists in Khan al-Ahmar village, east of Jerusalem, blocked Israeli bulldozers trying to close roads to the village.

Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said that the US administration will not present the deal of the century because it’s been actually applying it through a series of the decisions during the recent months, as reported in al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida.

Israeli politician Tzipi Livni called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet with President Abbas during their trip to New York to participate in the UN General Commission meetings this month, according to al-Quds and al-Ayyam.

Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that Palestinian police said that the border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank, known as Karameh or King Hussein, will be closed most of Tuesday and all day Wednesday in both directions. The closure marks Israel’s observance of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), one of the most sacred holidays in Judaism.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam quoted a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, as saying that US President Donald Trump is close to launching a peace deal with or without the participation of the Palestinian Authority.