General Strike Paralyzes Palestine, 'Hamas' and 'Jihad' Call for New Uprising

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh gestures as he delivers a speech over US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in Gaza City December 7, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh gestures as he delivers a speech over US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in Gaza City December 7, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
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General Strike Paralyzes Palestine, 'Hamas' and 'Jihad' Call for New Uprising

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh gestures as he delivers a speech over US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in Gaza City December 7, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh gestures as he delivers a speech over US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in Gaza City December 7, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

As the Palestinian authority considers adequate options to respond to the US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem a capital of Israel, Palestinians marched to the streets to express anger and rage against this decision. They clashed with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, chanting “Death to US and Trump.”

Palestine witnessed on Thursday a general mass strike – Palestinians protested, burnt images of Trump and US flags, and threw stones and empty bottles on the Israeli soldiers who responded with gun-shooting, gas and sound bombs.

At a press conference, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh called for a “new uprising” against Israel after Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.

“Tomorrow, December 8, 2017, should be a day of rage and the beginning of a major effort to rise up,” he said Thursday in a televised speech.

Haniyeh called on the Palestinian Authority to halt security coordination with Israel and to revoke the Oslo Accords.

“We have given instruction to all Hamas members and to all its wings to be fully ready for any new instructions or orders that may be given to confront this strategic danger that threatens Jerusalem and threatens Palestine,” added Haniyeh.

He demanded the convention of “an urgent Arab Summit” to propose a serious stand beside Jerusalem and to boycott the US administration.

Daoud Chehab, head of Islamic Jihad Movement media office, narrated the movement's statement that demanded announcing the failure of settlement, revoking Oslo Accords and rejecting any obligations resulting from it especially in the field of security coordination.

Chehab called all factions to engage in the Jerusalem uprising and to empower and escalate the resistance all over the occupied territories, namely in the West Bank. He also called on the Arab League to withdraw from peacemaking with Israel, cut any ties with Israel and to close all its embassies in Arab capitals.

President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas is currently coordinating with a number of Arab leaders to consider future steps. In this context, Abbas met on Thursday Jordan’s King Abdullah II and they discussed latest developments.



Druze Group ‘Rijal al-Karama’ Rejects Disarmament, Calls for Weapons Regulation in Sweida

Mourners attend funeral of those killed in clashes in southern Sweida town on Saturday (AFP)
Mourners attend funeral of those killed in clashes in southern Sweida town on Saturday (AFP)
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Druze Group ‘Rijal al-Karama’ Rejects Disarmament, Calls for Weapons Regulation in Sweida

Mourners attend funeral of those killed in clashes in southern Sweida town on Saturday (AFP)
Mourners attend funeral of those killed in clashes in southern Sweida town on Saturday (AFP)

A leading Druze movement said on Sunday that the issue of surrendering arms remains unresolved, even as local leaders in southern Syria announced the official start of implementing a peace agreement brokered by Druze clerics and dignitaries in Sweida province.

Bassem Abu Fakhr, spokesman for the “Rijal al-Karama” movement, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group's weapons were solely for defense and had never been used offensively.

“The matter of handing over weapons falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense, and no final decision has been made yet,” Abu Fakhr said. “Our arms have never posed a threat to any party. We have not attacked anyone, and our weapons exist to protect our land and honor.”

He added that while the group does not object to regulating the presence of weapons, full surrender was out of the question.

“We have no issue with organizing arms under state authority, provided they remain within the province’s administrative boundaries and under state supervision,” he said. “But the matter of weapons remains unresolved.”

Formed in 2013, Rijal al-Karama was established to protect the Druze community and prevent its youth from being conscripted into fighting for any side in Syria’s protracted conflict, which erupted after mass protests against then President Bashar al-Assad.

The group continues to operate as an independent local defense force, separate from state security institutions.

Abu Fakhr told Asharq Al-Awsat that a high-level meeting held last Thursday in Sweida—attended by senior Druze spiritual leaders Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri and Sheikh Hammoud al-Hanawi, along with local dignitaries and community members—resulted in an agreement to reactivate the police and judicial police under the Ministry of Interior.

Abu Fakhr also denied recent reports claiming that Druze clerics, tribal leaders, and faction commanders had agreed to fully surrender their weapons to the state.

“This issue has not been resolved by all parties in Sweida,” he said, reiterating the group’s position: “We have no objection to organizing the weapons under state oversight, as long as they remain within the administrative boundaries of the province, but not to surrendering them.”

The statement underscores continuing tensions over the role of armed groups in Sweida, a province that has largely remained outside the control of both government and opposition forces throughout Syria’s civil war.