Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Shops, schools and government offices are closed this Monday in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem due to a strike by Palestinians in protest against Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.
First change: December 11, 2023 – 4:56 p.m. Last change: December 11, 2023 – 4:55 p.m
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According to the latest figures, nearly 18,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, as well as 104 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the area.
According to Essam Abu Baker, coordinator of the Palestinian factions in Ramallah, many Palestinians took part in the strike and demonstrations were planned in the West Bank.
According to him, the protest is part of a global effort to pressure Israel to end the war and there are also attacks in parts of Jordan and Lebanon.
In Lebanon, public institutions, banks, schools and universities were closed after the government called a nationwide strike in solidarity with Gaza and the southern border areas, where shootings broke out, particularly between Israel and Hezbollah.
The strike was also observed in the western Esenyurt district of Istanbul, Turkey, where many businesses are owned by residents of the Palestinian territories, Syria, Yemen and Iran.
“Today's attack comes not only in solidarity with Gaza, but also against the United States, which used its veto in the Security Council against a ceasefire,” he said, referring to the U.S. rejection of a ceasefire resolution on Friday.
In recent hours, the town of Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip has again been the target of Israeli bombing, and fighting has also broken out in the center and north of the territory.
Hamas, which sparked the war with its October 7 attacks that killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, warned that the 137 hostages still held in Gaza would not survive the conflict if Israel did not meet its demands and more Palestinian ones release prisoners.
“I have no choice”
At a rally in Ramallah, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, demonstrators displayed a huge list of names of victims in Gaza and entire families took to the streets.
“All we can do is join in,” said an older man in the crowd. “We have nothing else.”
According to AFP photographers, there was also a strike in the northern West Bank city of Nablus and in Hebron in the south, where there was a demonstration.
In the Old City, in East Jerusalem, many shops were closed.
“We want the war to stop,” said Naser, 65, a coffee shop owner who gave only his first name. He hasn't heard from his friends in war-torn Gaza for weeks and doesn't know whether they are dead or alive.
According to him, the closure of his store will not have any major consequences. “We haven’t done any business since the war started,” he says, because the number of visitors has fallen sharply due to the violence.
© 2023 AFP