West Bank holds general strike to protest Israeli violence

Jerusalem, April 21 (IANS/DPA) People in the West Bank launched a general strike on Sunday in protest against Israel's killing of Palestinians in a refugee camp in Tulkarm and the Gaza Strip.

The Fatah movement, among other groups, had called for the strike.

According to eyewitnesses, there was hardly any traffic on the streets of Ramallah on Sunday morning and stores were closed.

In the northern West Bank city of Hebron, meanwhile, two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli soldiers on Sunday morning.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that it had been informed of the men's deaths by the Israeli authorities.

According to the army, they had previously attacked Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint.

The situation in the West Bank has worsened significantly since the war between Israel and the militant Palestinian organisation Hamas in the Gaza Strip began on October 7.

According to the Ministry of Health, more than 450 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank alone since then, most of them died in Israeli attacks.

In Gaza, more than 33,000 people have been killed in the last six months and many more thousands injured.

Israeli forces carried out a major operation in the West Bank until Saturday evening. According to the army, they killed at least 10 gunmen. Nine Israeli security forces were also injured in battles in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm.

The Ministry of Health in the West Bank reported 14 dead and several injured in the operation, including a 16-year-old.

Israel took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Palestinians claim the territories for their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Source: IANS