Newspapers review: President’s speech before Palestinian Central Council focus of dailies

President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech before the meeting of the Palestinian Central Council, which serves as the parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), in Ramallah dominated the front page headlines in Palestinian dailies on Monday.

Abbas was reported in al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida warning that the Palestinian people are going through one of the most dangerous stages.

He was also reported in al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida stating: “We are going to make decisions that are very important and difficult.”

Reiterating his rejection of US President Donald Trump’s plan for peace in the Middle East, dubbed deal of the century, Abbas was reported in the dailies stating: “If the Balfour declaration has passed (100 years ago), the Deal of the Century will not pass.”

Regarding Jerusalem, Abbas was reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida reiterating: “Jerusalem and Palestine are not for sale.”

Reaffirming his rejection of the establishment of a Palestinian state with temporary borders, Abbas was reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida: “There won’t be a state in Gaza nor a state without Gaza.”

He also reportedly reiterated his rejection of the Israeli decision which called for not paying money to the families of Palestinians killed and imprisoned.

He also reportedly saying: “It is the time to uphold our previous decisions on our relationship with the US, Israel and Hamas.”

Moreover, the dailies reported that Abbas received Oman’s special envoy Salem Bin Habib Al-Omeiri in Ramallah.

Al-Omeiri reportedly delivered a letter from Sultan Qaboos to Abbas following Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Muscat.

Furthermore, the dailies reported that three Palestinian boys were killed in an Israeli airstrike to the east of Khan Younes in the southern besieged Gaza Strip.

The children were identified as Khaled Bassam Abu Saeed, 14, Abdul-Hamid Mohammed Abu Zaher, 13, and Mohammed Ibrahim al-Sutari, 13.

Additionally, al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported that a Palestinian man succumbed to his wounds he had sustained during the Great March of Return protests last Friday along Gaza’s eastern border.

Yahya Bader al-Hasanat, 37, was reportedly shot in the head by Israeli snipers as he was partaking in a protest along the border.

Yet, the dailies said that Israeli occupation authorities approved a plan to construct 20,000 new settler unit in Maale Adumim settlement bloc, east of Jerusalem.

Al-Quds reported Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement Ziyad Nakhaleh stating that the movement fired rockets at Israel not out of anger at Egypt or Hamas, but rather out of commitment to defend the Palestinian people.

Regarding Egyptian efforts to restore calm in Gaza, al-Ayyam said that the Egyptian security delegation continued to strive to reach a comprehensive understanding to uphold clam in the besieged coastal enclave.

It added that Israeli forces set up a new military outpost between the northern West Bank cities of Nablus and Jenin.

According to al-Ayyam, the Joudeh Palestinian Muslim family in Jerusalem unanimously agreed to depose Adib Joudeh from his position as custodian of the key of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher following the recent illegal sale of a property to Israeli settlers.

Furthermore, al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Fatah spokesman Atef Abu Seif slamming the Palestinian Legislative Council’s (PLC) Speaker Aziz Duwaik’s statements on Abbas’ move to dissolve the PLC.

Finally, al-Hayat al-Jadida reported the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Committee announcing that Khader Adnan, currently in Israeli detention, has stopped drinking water.

Adnan has been on an open-ended hunger strike for 58 days in protest of being detained without a charge or trial.