Ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Jerusalem focus of dailies

The ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Jerusalem manifest in Israel’s Supreme Court’s to displace 700 Palestinians from East Jerusalem’s Batn al-Hawa neighborhood dominated the front page headlines in Palestinian dailies on Friday.

Al-Quds reported that Palestinians have widely rejected the Israeli Supreme Court’s ruling on Palestinian inhabitants of Batn al-Hawa area in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.

It also reported Palestinian member of Israeli parliament, the Knesset, Ahmad Tibi slamming the Israeli judiciary as serving an arm of Israeli occupation authorities which legitimizes the forced displacement of Palestinians.

Al-Ayyam reported Palestinian activists warning in this regard that the court’s ruling triggers the largest ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Silwan.

On the other hand, al-Quds opted to highlight the latest round of talks between a high-ranking Hamas delegation and Egyptian officials to achieve intra-Palestinian reconciliation.

It said that Egypt resumes its efforts to overcome the obstacles to Fatah-Hamas reconciliation.

Additionally, the dailies said that Israeli troops conducted a raid into the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shufat for the second consecutive day.

According to al-Ayyam, troops escorted bulldozers and trucks into the refugee camp to clear the rubble of dozens of Palestinian-owned shops that had been demolished a day earlier.

The dailies added that Israeli troops also raided the Palestinian Education Ministry’s office and the Islamic Orphanage School (Dar al-Aytam al-Islamiya) in Jerusalem.

They added that Israeli occupation authorities have banned Jerusalem Affairs Minister Adnan Husseini from travelling and Jerusalem Governor Adnan Gheith from interacting with Palestinian officials, both reportedly for three months.

Furthermore, al-Ayyam said that Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement of Maskiyyot in the northern Jordan Valley have started to “annex” dozens of Palestinian-owned dunums of farmland.

Moreover, al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that the Palestinian cabinet has approved the National Strategy for Combating Money-Laundering and Financing of Terrorism.

According to al-Quds and al-Ayyam, Secretary-General of Fatah Central Committee Jibril Rajoub held talks with Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa in Bahrain’s capital, Manama.

They also reported that Hamas military wing, Izz Ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, revealed images of member of the Israeli commando force that recently conducted a botched clandestine raid into the southern Gaza Strip.

Exploring reasons behind US President Donald Trump’s decision to postpone rolling out his Mideast plan to 2019, al-Quds published an analysis titled Analysts: Regional variables and the lack of an Israeli vision are behind the postponement of rolling out “Deal of the Century”.

According to al-Quds and al-Ayyam, the International Criminal Court has decided to reopen investigation into the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara Flotilla in international waters in May 2010.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida said that Finance Minister Shukri Bishara and India’s Cosmas International Company signed a contract for the construction of the first national printing press in Palestine with funds provided from India.

It said that a bill has been recently submitted to the House of Commons to recognize the State of Palestine.

It added that Foreign and Expatriates Minister Riyad Malki briefed Iraq’s President Barham Salih on the latest developments on the Palestinian arena and Israeli violations.

Malki reportedly met Salih on the sidelines of the Mediterranean Dialogues in Rome.

Finally, al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Palestinian Ministry of Interior slamming a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report for not taking the response HRW had received from Palestinian security services.