The death of chief Palestinian negotiator and senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Saeb Erekat at the age of 65 after contracting Covid-19 dominated the front page headlines in Wednesday’s issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies.

Al-Quds printed “Dr. Saeb Erekat will be laid to his rest today” in bold white font against black background.

The dailies added that President Mahmoud Abbas mourned Erekat and ordered flags at half-mast for three days.

President Abbas was reported in al-Ayyam saying: “]Palestine today bids farewell to this patriotic leader and[ the great fighter who played a big role in raising the banner of Palestine high,” in reference to Erekat.

He was also reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida saying that the departure of Erekat “represents a great loss for Palestine and our people.”

He was also reported adding that Erekat “spent his life as a fighter and a hard negotiator defending Palestine, its cause, its people, and its independent national decision.”

Al-Quds reported former British Prime Minister Tony Blair saying that Erekat “dedicated his life to the cause of ]an independent sovereign State of Palestine[.”

President Abbas’ remarks on the 16^th anniversary of the death of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat also hit the front page headlines in the dailies.

He was reported pledging to continue his efforts until the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories is ended and not to give up any of the Palestinian people’s legitimate rights.

Moreover, the dailies highlighted the death of cancer-stricken Palestinian detainee, Kamal Abu Wa‘er, in Israeli custody.

Abu Waer, a 46-year-old resident of the Jenin-district town of Qabatiya, suffered from throat cancer. He was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to multiple life sentences for resisting the occupation. He was the first detainee to in custody to have tested positive for the highly contagious virus.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida added in this regard that Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh extended his condolences to the Abu Wa‘er family and held the Israeli occupation authorities responsible for the Abu Wa‘er’s death due to intentional medical negligence.

It said that the Israeli Prison Service of Gilboa detention facility decided to completely shut it down and declare it a red zone due to the outbreak of Covid-19 among Palestinian detainees.

Besides, al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that 660 Palestinians tested positive for Covid-19 and 14 other died of it in the occupied territories (the West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip).

According to al-Hayat al-Jadida, Finance Minister Shukri Bishara and Spanish Consul General in Jerusalem Ignacio García-Valdecasas signed a €1 million in support of the Ministry of Social Affairs’ cash assistance to disadvantaged families.

In addition, al-Hayat al-Jadida and al-Ayyam said that the Yasser Arafat Foundation (YAF) marks today the 16^th anniversary of the death of late leader Yasser Arafat.

They added that YAF decided to award the Yasser Arafat Achievement Award to Fatah veteran leader Farouk Kaddoumi and Secretary-General of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine Nayef Hawatmeh.

Al-Ayyam said that Israeli occupation forces conducted multiple overnight raids across the West Bank, ransacking houses and rounding up 14 Palestinians.

It added that the occupation forces leveled farmland in the Hebron-district towns of Idhna and Adh-Dhahiriya.

 

Source: Wafa News Agency