Palestinians are calling for a general strike in solidarity with the people of Gaza following the Israeli attack on the security zone that killed at least 90 people.
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are observing a general strike to protest Israel’s war on Gaza, denouncing Saturday’s attack on a designated security zone of al-Mawasi that killed at least 90 people and wounded some 300 others.
Most West Bank cities participated in a general strike on Sunday against the Israeli airstrike on the refugee camp west of Khan Younis. Palestinians also demonstrated Saturday night in the cities of Jenin, Hebron and Tubas to condemn the devastating war.
On Sunday morning, local Palestinian social media accounts shared videos showing shops closing in Jenin, the Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem and Tulkarem in response to calls for strikes.
#sunshine | The first thing you need to know about how it works in the world and people. pic.twitter.com/lOp3VgaPxw
— Al-Azhar Al-Azhar (@PalinfoAr) July 14, 2024
Translation: A strike in the city of Jenin to denounce the massacres of the occupation in Khan Younis and the Shati camp.
According to Tel Aviv Tribune’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah, Palestinians feel this is “the bare minimum” they can do “to express solidarity, to feel like they are doing something to support their fellow Palestinians in Gaza who feel helpless,” while “confronting” Israeli raids imposed on several cities in the occupied West Bank since October 7.
“This reality of the occupation and the ongoing war that is taking place in Gaza, (as well as) the raids, the demolitions of homes and the confiscation of land that are taking place here in the West Bank, is turning into a real vicious circle in this expression of solidarity,” Odeh said, adding that apart from sentiment, the strikes are unlikely to have any effect.
Anger over ‘fractured politics’
In addition to expressing anger over the war in Gaza, Palestinians are also expressing frustration over their divided politics, Odeh said.
“In Ramallah, for example, Palestinian factions failed to agree to join the general strike, while the same factions in other cities agreed to this bare minimum.”
The Gaza Health Ministry reported Sunday that at least 38,584 Palestinians have been killed and 88,881 wounded in Israel’s war on the enclave.
At the same time, violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, which had already escalated even before the start of the Israeli war on Gaza in October, has escalated significantly in recent months. Increased Israeli military raids against Palestinian groups, settlement expansion and violent attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinian villages have provoked a response from Palestinian armed groups in the occupied territory.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society reported on Sunday that Israeli soldiers arrested 30 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank over the past two days. Israel has arrested nearly 10,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in near-daily raids.
