Gaza announces general strike in solidarity with Nablus 

The Gaza-based Palestinian factions on Tuesday declared a comprehensive strike in solidarity with the West Bank city of Nablus, after Israel killed five Palestinian fighters in the besieged city in a bloody raid. 

In a press conference held in Gaza after finishing the joint meeting of the factions, Khalid al-Batsh, a senior leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) said, "We mourn our heroes in Nablus and announce the strike as all aspects of life stop, including government and educational facilities and others."

He called on the joint operations room to convene immediately to discuss ways to support the Palestinian people and the resistance in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. The PIJ leader urged the rebellious youth in the West Bank and Gaza to clash with the Israeli soldiers at all locations. 

Al-Batsh additionally called on the Palestinian people in the diaspora to march in front of "the embassies of the occupation" to express rejection against the ongoing Israeli aggression and affirm the Palestinian people's right to resist the occupation.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli army killed five Palestinian fighters in Nablus city during a military operation by special Israeli security forces. As a result, dozens of thousands of people in the city joined a mass funeral of the fighters. 

Despite the fact that the Palestinians in Gaza are in solidarity with the West Bank, some residents of the besieged coastal enclave criticised the 'tame' response by the armed Palestinian factions.

"It seems that the Palestinian factions have their own accounts based on their political interests. Unfortunately, we have not heard any kinds of threats to the Israeli occupation," Allam al-Rayes, a Gaza-based Palestinian, said to The New Arab. 

"The Palestinian people need to have strong leadership that can defend them in the West Bank … the Gaza-based armed groups display their power from time to time in Gaza, but they do not care about the fighters in the West Bank," he remarked. 

Mariam Ayyash, a Gaza-based woman in her 40s, told The New Arab that she is dismayed by Israel's crimes in the West Bank, saying that "it is the real-time for all Palestinians to unify and confront the Israeli soldiers." 

"Nablus has said its word today that we have a new generation of fighters who are not involved in any militant groups …. They only have the belief in their cause and they will not accept the occupation," she added. 

The people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have lost their confidence in their leadership, she opined, stressing that "we need to raise our voice against Israeli occupation by all our possible means."