Newspaper Review: President Abbas’ statement on Arafat’s anniversary focus of dailies

A statement by President Mahmoud Abbas during a speech commemorating the 14th anniversary of the death of late leader Yasser Arafat hit the front pages of the three Arabic Palestinian dailies on Sunday.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida, al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that Abbas stated that “victory is definitely coming”, adding that “East Jerusalem, with all of its people, institutions and Christian and Islamic holy places, is the capital of the State of Palestine.”

The President said that “no one has the right to cancel the right of the Palestinian refugees”, stressing that “national unity is the strongest weapon to face the liquidation projects and conspiracies that are being waged against the national cause.”

The papers reported that a Palestinian who was shot and critically injured by Israeli soldiers during clashes in the village of Mazra’a al-Gharbiya, near Ramallah in the central West Bank two weeks ago, was announced dead of his wounds on Saturday.

A statement by Jason Greenblatt, US President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East peace process, was reported in Al-Ayyam and al-Quds. He said that a peace plan will be presented soon and that both sides will have to compromise.

The dailies said that heavy rain is expected in the country on Tuesday.