Palestinians across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds have held a general strike to mourn the assassination of the deputy head of Hamas politburo Saleh al-Arouri.
All businesses and services, including shops, banks, commercial facilities and public institutions were closed just a day after Israel killed al-Arouri in a drone strike in a building in al-Musharrafieh district in southern Beirut.
The Tel Aviv regime has not officially claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, which has already drawn widespread calls for protest rallies in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Partial cancellations also disrupted the transport activity in the West Bank.
“It was a cowardly crime, and especially here in Hebron it is sad, this city embraced Arouri for a long time. This strike demonstrates people’s support for the resistance and their feelings against the occupation’s crimes in Gaza and in the West Bank,” a political activist from al-Khalil (Hebron) told the London-based Middle East Eye website.
“What happened shows that the occupation failed and did not achieve any success in Gaza, forcing them to go into Beirut instead. It was an organized war crime in our beloved Lebanon. We call on everyone all over the world to hold Israel accountable in international courts,” he added.
The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
Since the start of the US-backed offensive, the Israeli regime has killed at least 22,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 57,000 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
“The occupation thinks that by killing prominent figures such as Arouri they are killing Palestinians and their spirits but they do not know that thousands will come following Arouri and that as long as there is occupation there will be resistance,” Majda Tumaisa, also from Hebron, said.
According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, the strike was organized by Palestinian national and Islamic groups, labor unions, and civil society organizations in solidarity with the people of Gaza.
The Israeli regime has been waging sporadic attacks on southern Lebanon since October 7, but Tuesday’s drone strike marks the first time that the Tel Aviv regime has targeted the Lebanese capital since the 2006 war.
