GAZA/RAMALLAH, Tuesday, June 25, 2019 (WAFA) – A general strike was observed in the Gaza Strip today to protest the convening of the US-sponsored economic workshop in the Bahraini capital, Manama, as the West Bank prepares for clashes with Israeli soldiers at the checkpoints around the cities.

Shops, schools, banks and businesses closed throughout the besieged and afflicted Gaza Strip in observing the call for a general strike to protest the Manama meeting, which opened its two-day meeting today and which is looked at as destructive to the Palestinian national aspiration of freedom and independence.

In the West Bank, calls were made for gathering at Israeli army checkpoints around the cities, mainly in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron.

By noon, several Palestinians were seen gathering at meeting points and getting ready to march to the contact points with the Israeli forces, where clashes are expected to develop.

The events are reminiscent of the time when the US opened its embassy in Jerusalem in May of last year when dozens of Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli soldiers, mainly in the Gaza Strip, during mass protests against the US move.

M.K.