RAMALLAH, Monday, May 17, 2021 (WAFA) – The Palestinian people called for a general strike on Tuesday in protest of the ongoing Israeli onslaught on Gaza, forced expulsions from Jerusalem, and settler mob violence.

Businesses, schools, universities and offices in the occupied territories will close as Fatah Central Committee called on people to take part in the strike in protest of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, which have killed 200 Palestinians, including 59 children and 35 women, and wounded some 1300 others, as well as against the Israeli military occupation, settler mob violence.

The committee issued a statement backing the strike and calling the world to confront the Israeli occupation authorities’ attempts to “ignite a religious conflict” through forced expulsions in Jerusalem, while stressing that there would be “neither security, nor peace, nor stability without having Jerusalem as the capital of the independent Palestinian state”.

The Lawyers Syndicate, the General Union of Teachers, and the Higher Committee of the Public Transportation, among other public unions and syndicates, issued calls backing the strike.

The call for the strike has been supported by the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, popular movements, and political parties, as well as by the Arab High Follow-up Committee, which called the approximately 1.6 million Palestinian citizens of Israel to observe the strike.

Palestinians in the occupied territories, throughout Israel and worldwide are expected to take part in peaceful protests in condemnation of the Israeli aggression.

K.F.