Palestinians Go on Strike over Gaza Onslaught

 A picture shows shuttered shops during a general strike in solidarity with Gaza, in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, on December 11, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)
A picture shows shuttered shops during a general strike in solidarity with Gaza, in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, on December 11, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)
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Palestinians Go on Strike over Gaza Onslaught

 A picture shows shuttered shops during a general strike in solidarity with Gaza, in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, on December 11, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)
A picture shows shuttered shops during a general strike in solidarity with Gaza, in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, on December 11, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)

Shops, schools and government offices shut across the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem Monday as Palestinians staged a general strike protesting against Israel's relentless onslaught in the Gaza Strip.

The bloodiest ever war in Gaza has killed more than 18,200 Palestinians in the territory, mostly women and children, and 104 Israeli soldiers, according to the latest reported death tolls.

Activists had called for a strike in solidarity with the besieged territory covering businesses, public workers and education.

Many Palestinians took part and rallies were staged in the West Bank, according to Essam Abu Baker who coordinates Palestinian factions in Ramallah.

He described the protest as part of a global effort to put pressure on Israel to stop the war, reporting strikes taking place in parts of Jordan and Lebanon.

In Lebanon, public institutions, banks, schools and universities closed after the government decided on a nationwide strike in solidarity with Gaza and with border areas in the south, which have seen intensifying exchanges of fire, mainly between Israel and Hezbollah.

The stoppage was also observed in Istanbul's western Esenyurt district, where many businesses are owned by residents from the Palestinian territories, Syria, Yemen and Iran.

Footage on social media showed deserted streets and Palestinian flags billowing.

"The strike today is not only in solidarity with Gaza, but also against the USA which used its veto in the Security Council against a truce," Abu Baker said in Ramallah, referring to the US rejection of a ceasefire resolution on Friday.

Overnight in Gaza, more Israeli air strikes targeted the biggest southern city of Khan Yunis, while deadly fighting and bombing were also reported in the center and north of the narrow territory.

Hamas, which triggered the war with its October 7 attacks in which 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel, warned that the remaining 137 hostages held in Gaza would not survive the conflict unless Israel meets its demands and frees more Palestinian prisoners.

'I have no choice'

At a rally in Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority, demonstrators unfurled a huge list of names of the victims in Gaza.

Whole families came out to protest, with parents carrying children on their shoulders.

"All we can do is take part," an elderly man in the crowd told AFP. "We don't have anything else."

AFP photographers also saw the work stoppage being observed in the northern West Bank city of Nablus and Hebron in the south, where another rally was held.

In east Jerusalem's Old City, many shops were closed. The sound of keys echoed in the bazaar as Palestinian business owners locked their brightly painted doors.

"We want the war to stop," said Nasser, a 65-year-old coffee shop owner who gave only his first name. He has not heard from friends in war-torn Gaza for weeks, and doesn't know if they are dead or alive.

He said he had little to lose by closing his shop along the Via Dolorosa, a Christian pilgrimage route.

"We've had no business anyway since the war started," he said, after the outbreak of violence prompted visitor numbers to plummet.

The few shopkeepers who did open said they had strong reasons for doing so.

Florist Raja Salama, 62, came to work to prepare wreaths of white roses for an elderly relative's funeral.

"I'm only open because the funeral is today," he said.

"When I've taken the flowers over, I'll close."

Others were desperate for business.

"I need to work to feed my baby son," said a young Palestinian barber.

He did not give his name, explaining that he was ashamed to open his shop in the Old City.

"I should respect the strike, but I have no choice. I have a one-year-old at home and I haven't had work since the start of the war. That's the ugly truth."



Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

Israel’s military ordered the evacuation Saturday of a crowded part of Gaza designated as a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants in Khan Younis, including parts of Muwasi, a makeshift tent camp where thousands are seeking refuge.

The order comes in response to rocket fire that Israel says originates from the area. It's the second evacuation issued in a week in an area designated for Palestinians fleeing other parts of Gaza. Many Palestinians have been uprooted multiple times in search of safety during Israel's punishing air and ground campaign.

On Monday, after the evacuation order, multiple Israeli airstrikes hit around Khan Younis, killing at least 70 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, citing figures from Nasser Hospital.

The area is part of a 60-square-kilometer (roughly 20-square-mile) “humanitarian zone” to which Israel has been telling Palestinians to flee to throughout the war. Much of the area is blanketed with tent camps that lack sanitation and medical facilities and have limited access to aid, United Nations and humanitarian groups say. About 1.8 million Palestinians are sheltering there, according to Israel's estimates. That's more than half Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 39,100 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The UN estimated in February that some 17,000 children in the territory are now unaccompanied, and the number is likely to have grown since.

The war began with an assault by Hamas fighters on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. About 115 are still in Gaza, about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.