“This cowardly assassination will not break our people’s will to resist and endure.”
A general strike has been declared across the West Bank as hundreds marched through the streets of some towns in protest at the assassination of Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh.
The Hamas chief was killed after being targeted by an Israeli raid in the Iranian capital of Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday.
Palestinian National and Islamic forces called for a general strike and “anger demonstrations” saying in a statement that Haniyeh’s assassination was “part of the Zionist state’s terrorism and its war of extermination, destruction, and killing, amidst the international community’s failure to stop the war and hold the occupier accountable for its crimes.”
Protests in West Bank cities in anger over the cowardly assassination of the martyr Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. pic.twitter.com/f96CMcOLLh
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The groups affirmed that “this cowardly assassination will not break our people’s will to resist and endure, but will increase our determination and insistence to continue holding on to our rights, constants, struggle, and resistance for freedom and independence.”
The strike covered all cities and towns in the West Bank, including Jenin, Ramallah, Hebron, Qalqilya, Bethlehem and the Old City of Jerusalem. Footage shared on social media showed businesses shut and empty streets.
Protesters waved Palestinian flags and Hamas banners as they marched in towns such as Ramallah and Nablus amid chants in support of resistance movements against the Israeli occupation, the Anadolu news agency reported.
Haniyeh was also mourned via loudspeakers in many mosques across the West Bank.
Israeli occupation forces also earlier on Wednesday sealed off the entrance to the town of Hebron (Al Khalil).
Ismail Haniyeh – The Palestinian Refugee Who Became the Political Leader of Hamas
Flags at Half-Mast
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a day of mourning in protest of the assassination, reported the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Abbas ordered flags to be flown at half-mast in official Palestinian institutions in the West Bank governorates.
He also called on the Palestinian people to unite, be patient and steadfast in the face of the Israeli occupation, said WAFA.
(PC, Anadolu, WAFA)
