Zionist Entity Bars Palestinian Activist from Entering Al-Aqsa

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES – Zionist authorities Monday barred a Palestinian activist from al-Quds entering Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for 15 days.

Nathem Abu Rumooz, 37, was banned entry into the mosque compound and fined the sum of NIS 2500 ($660).

A day earlier, Israeli military police detained Abu Rumooz, a resident of the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, while he was reading al-Quran inside the mosque compound.

He was investigated for being in the mosque compound at the time of an Israeli settlers’ tour.

Abu Rumooz had spent five years in Israeli prisons before he was released in 2013.

Israeli settlers set up caravan in Bethlehem-district village

In Bethlehem, Israeli settlers Monday set up a caravan in Palestinian-owned lands in the southern West Bank village of Battir, north of Bethlehem city, said a local activist.

Ibrahim Awadallah, local activist, told WAFA that a group of settlers raided the area of al-Khimar, northeast of Battir, and set up a caravan as a prelude to the construction of a new outpost.

 Awadallah noted that Israeli forces prevented Palestinian landowners from accessing their lands in the Bethlehem-district village on UNESCO heritage list, a move that came several days after settlers constructed a new settler-only road before locals stopped them from continuing razing the land.

Battir, six kilometers west of Bethlehem, is on the UNESCO world heritage list due to its ancient terraces and Roman-era irrigation system which is still used by villagers to irrigate their crops.

It is home to a Roman spring and bath, an eco-museum and some hiking trails. Its old town is known as the Seven Widows Quarter.

Settlers’ intrusion into Al-Aqsa focus of dailies

In Ramallah, the raid of over a hundred Israeli Jewish settlers led by Knesset member Yehuda Glick into Al-Aqsa Mosque compound hit the front page headlines in the dailies.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported that Glick ] and dozens of settlers[ forced their way into Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, under heavy military police protection.

On the other hand, al-Hayat al-Jadida opted to spotlight Palestinian officials’ statements regarding the recent Constitutional Court’s decision dissolving the largely defunct Palestinian Legislative Parliament (PLC).

It reported a number of Palestinian officials stating that the recent Constitutional Court’s decision that dissolved the PLC falls in line with the Palestinian National Council’s decision and conforms to the principle of the rule of law.

In this regard, al-Ayyam reported that several Palestinian factions reject the court’s decision dissolving the PLC and holding new parliamentary elections within six months[.

It also reported the Central Elections Commission announcing that new parliamentary elections would be held by a presidential decree.

Additionally, al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said that Palestine’s High Court issued a ruling halting doctors’ strike, scheduled on December 24th, against the Law on Medical Protection.

Al-Quds added in this regard that the Palestinian doctors’ syndicate is committed to holding the strike as scheduled despite the court’s ruling.

Furthermore, al-Quds reported that Israeli forces sealed the entrances of al-Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron, as well as the gates of the Palestine Technical College.

Elaborating on this military raid, al-Ayyam said that dozens of Palestinians suffocated from tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers during ensuing confrontations.

Moreover, al-Quds reported that Palestinians would hold the 21st maritime protest near Israeli-built marine barrier off the northern coast of Gaza to demand end of 11-year siege.

According to the dailies, Palestinian Preventive Security Service has foiled the fraudulent sales of 3,000 dunums of Palestinian-owned land to settlers across the West Bank.

Al-Quds also highlighted the launching of the Palestinian Democratic Assembly by five leftist political parties.

It also covered statements of member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee Azzam al-Ahmad regarding efforts to amend the Paris Protocol of 1994.

It reported him saying that Israel’s refusal to amend the protocol would entail a Palestinian leadership’s decision that takes into account Palestinian national interest.

Al-Ahman was also reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida stating that Hamas has made a huge mistake when it accepted the transfer of Qatari funds to Gaza via Israel.

Moreover, al-Ayyam said that a video showing Israeli forces briefly detaining three Palestinian students in front of a school in Beituniya village near Ramallah has caused a large-scale outrage.

According to al-Ayyam and al-Quds, Israel’s Justice Ministry has refused to investigate the 2015 killing of Palestinian teen Basel Ragheb Sidr by military policemen despite the latter’s admissions that they continued shooting after Sidr lay wounded on the ground.

Finally, al-Hayat al-Jadida reported President Mahmoud Abbas commending South Korea for their significant support to the Palestinian people and cause.

WAFA NEWS AGENCY

R.S