A general strike is observed today (Tuesday) in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, in protest against the Israeli occupation army incursion into the northern West Bank city of Jenin and the killing of 10 people since yesterday.
Hadash and Communist Party of Israel demonstrators against the Israeli deadly Jenin operation near Shefa’mr in northern Israel, among them the Chairman of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens, Mohammed Barakeh, July 3, 2023 (Photo: Zo Haderech)
Shops were shuttered and life came to a standstill in most areas of the West Bank as calls were made for people to take part in protests and demonstrations in support of Jenin and to confront soldiers at contact points.
Last night and early this morning, confrontations were reported with soldiers in several areas of the West Bank.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed two more deaths overnight by Israeli army gunfire in Jenin, which raises the total killed in the two-days of Israeli army incursion into Jenin to 10, as thousands of Palestinian civilians were forced by the occupation soldiers to leave their homes in Jenin refugee camp and take shelter elsewhere in the city.
Hadash-Ta’al parliamentary faction slams the deadly operation in Jenin, saying that using more force won’t solve Israel’s problems in the West Bank. “The Israeli thesis that ‘what can’t be solved with force, can be solved with more force’ has failed again and again, and will fail this time as well,” the faction says. “Meanwhile, many Palestinians are paying with their lives.” “The only solution is to end the occupation and control over the Palestinian people,” the statement says.
Hadash-Ta’al’s leaders MK Ayman Odeh and Ahmad Tibi criticized the other parties for what it claimed was an operation whose eventual purpose is to fortify control over territories that should in the future be part of a Palestinian state. MK Odeh says the government’s ongoing Jenin operation is part of a plan to annex parts of the West Bank. “The goal is the annexation of Area C,” Odeh says at the outset of his Knesset faction meeting, referring to Israeli-controlled areas under the Oslo Accords. “The Palestinian nation will continue to struggle until a nation is formed on 1967 lines, alongside the State of Israel,” he says.
According to MK Tibi, “In 2002 the occupation army invaded Jenin, dozens were killed, murdered and injured. This did not cause the residents of Jenin to give up. Then, just two weeks ago, 7 Palestinians from Jenin were shot and killed by soldiers of the occupation. Jenin opposes invading soldiers. It is the natural way. It happened everywhere. In Africa, in Algeria against France, in Vietnam against the USA, in Central Africa against Belgium.” He later said: “Look at what is happening today, there is overwhelming support for this invasion of Jenin, which involves killing, destruction, destruction of infrastructure and roads. It involves damage to the Freedom Theater – and the Likud, Ben-Gvir, National Unity, Yesh Atid and Labor – every party but one supports it – Hadash-Ta’al faction”
Several protests were held by Hadash and Communist Party of Israel activists on Monday evening in northern Israel (Haifa, Nazareth, Acre and Shefa’mr), Jerusalem and Umm el-Fahm. Tonight, will be held another demonstration near the Likud headquarters in Central Tel-Aviv.
