Palestinians have staged general strike across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, calling for confrontations with Israeli forces after the senior leader of the Islamic Jihad resistance movement Khader Adnan embraced martyrdom at an Israeli prison following an 87-day hunger strike.
Stores and schools in the central West Bank cities of Ramallah and al-Bireh remained shut on Tuesday, and laborers refused to go to work.
An-Najah National University in the city of Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank, also suspended classes in solidarity. The Islamic society of the university announced the postponement of the graduation ceremony that had originally been scheduled for today.
حداد عام يعم محافظة طولكرم حدادا على الشهيد خضر عدنان
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) May 2, 2023
تصوير: زاهر جابر pic.twitter.com/vQallbq6mP
People in the cities of Jenin and Qalqilya also observed a general strike in commemoration of Adnan and in protest at the Israeli regime’s repressive measures against the inhumane mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners.
إضراب شامل يعم مدينة قلقيلية تنديداً باغتيال الأسير الشيخ خضر عدنان pic.twitter.com/Vnq7cYHPpM
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) May 2, 2023
Confrontations also broke out between young Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces in the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
#صور| اندلاع مواجهات بين الشبان وقوات الاحتلال في الخليل تنديدًا باغتيال الاحتلال للشيخ خضر عدنان pic.twitter.com/XjnWI2xwHN
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) May 2, 2023
Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, all Palestinian resistance groups and institutions throughout the coastal enclave announced a general strike, urging people from all walks of life to converge on the Square of the Unknown Soldier in Gaza City following noon prayers to participate in a funeral ceremony for the late Islamic Jihad leader at al-Katiba Square.
إضراب عام في مدينة غزة حدادا على روح شهيد الكرامة الشيخ خضر عدنان.
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) May 2, 2023
تصوير محمد أبو دحروج pic.twitter.com/Bawkz5ANsC
Rockets fired from Gaza at occupied territories
Meanwhile, four rockets were fired from Gaza as Israel readied for a potential escalation.
The Israeli military said in a statement that three rockets launched at around 6:30 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) triggered sirens in the area around Kibbutz Sa’ad and landed in open areas. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
Shortly afterward, a mortar launched from the strip landed close to the security barrier. No sirens sounded as the projectile was headed for an unpopulated area, the military added.
Settler injured as Palestinian opens fire at Israeli vehicles in West Bank
Meanwhile, a Palestinian gunman opened fire at Israeli vehicles driving near the illegal West Bank settlement of Avnei Hefetz on Tuesday, lightly injuring one settler.
The gunman exited a vehicle at the Shufa Junction — close to the Palestinian town of the same name — and fired toward three vehicles leaving the settlement in the northern West Bank.
A 39-year-old Israeli man traveling in one of the vehicles was lightly injured by glass shards, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said.
He was taken to the Laniado Hospital in Netanya, where he was listed in good condition.