The death of a 16-year-old boy from Balata refugee camp two weeks after he was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers in Balata refugee camp in Nablus and critically injured, the statement by the president of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Israeli settlement activities in the occupied territories, as well as the new tremors that hit southern Turkey last night were highlighted on the front page of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies published today.

The papers said Muntaser Mohammad al-Shawwa, 16, has succumbed to his wounds at a Nablus hospital where he was kept in intensive care after he was hit in the head by a bullet fired by Israeli soldiers during a raid of Balata refugee camp on February 8.

They also said the UNSC statement by its president, which was accepted unanimously, denounced Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories and considered them ‘dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution based on the 1967 lines.”

Al-Ayyam daily said that while the UNSC expressed ‘deep concern and dismay’ with Israel’s settlement plans, Israel on the other hand held on to plans to legalize nine settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank.

However, al-Quds daily said the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a brief statement last night that it will not legalize the outposts.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida said a Belgium lawmaker called for a ban on Israeli settlement products in the European Union markets.

Al-Ayyam daily made the 6.4 and 5.8 tremors that hit southern Turkey last night and were felt in Palestine and neighboring countries its main front-page story and said that the tremors caused panic and damage, as well as caused some deaths and injuries.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida daily said President Mahmoud Abbas chaired a meeting for the committee formed by the leadership to follow up on the developments on the ground in the area.

It said the President underwent a medical examination at the Istishari Hospital in Ramallah and the results were good.

Al-Quds daily quoted an Israeli report talking about a secret channel between the offices of President Abbas and Netanyahu.

It said tens of thousands of Israelis have demonstrated against voting in the Israeli parliament to weaken the judiciary.

It also said that the Palestinian government affirmed its commitment to the agreements reached with the unions as soon as money is available as thousands of teachers demonstrated near the Prime Minister’s office in Ramallah demanding implementation of the agreement for wage hikes reached with them.

Al-Hayat al-Jadida said the Israeli rescue team dispatched to Turkey to help in the relief efforts following the devastating earthquake two weeks ago stole a historical manuscript from a synagogue in Antakya and Ankara has decided to open an investigation. The manuscript was later returned to Turkey.

Al-Ayyam said the Palestinian freedom fighters in Israeli jails are continuing their struggle against new repressive rules in Israeli prisons.

Source: Palestine News and Info News Agency