Fatah backs general strike in occupied West Bank 

The Palestinian Fatah movement is backing a comprehensive general strike today, Thursday, across the occupied West Bank. The strike was called “to mourn the soul of the martyr Uday Al-Tamimi, and to condemn the crimes of the Israeli occupation.”

In a statement on Wednesday, the movement called for “an escalation of confrontations” with the Israeli occupation authorities as an “affirmation of the approach to national struggle.”

The 22-year-old Palestinian Al-Tamimi was shot dead by Israeli security guards on Wednesday evening at the entrance to an illegal settlement near Jerusalem, after he shot one of them. He had been on the run since he is alleged to have shot and killed an Israeli soldier on 8 October at the Shuafat military checkpoint. Israel has spent the past eleven days searching for him.

Dozens of Palestinian youths went onto the streets of Ramallah, Jenin, Bethlehem and Shuafat refugee camp in spontaneous rallies when news of his death filtered through. They condemned the killing and demanded a response.

In Gaza, meanwhile, several Palestinian factions mourned Al-Tamimi in separate statements. He was adopted by Hamas, which described him as “heroic” and “our martyr”.

READ: Palestinian teenager shot dead by Israeli forces

“Tamimi’s determination to resist the occupation solidifies the pillars of our people’s revolution against the criminal occupation, sends a message of defiance to it from the heart of Jerusalem, and warns the occupation of dark days in which their soldiers and the guards of their settlements will be targeted,” said the movement. “Al-Quds [Jerusalem] and its men… respond to the call of Al-Aqsa Mosque and affirm its sanctity and the right of our people to it as a mosque exclusively for Muslims. The occupation will never have a right to it.”

Hamas called on the “Palestinians and the revolutionaries to follow in his [Tamimi’s] footsteps, follow his path, and activate all means to protect Al-Aqsa, the foremost of which is to go to the mosque and stay there, as well as escalating comprehensive resistance.”

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said that Uday Al-Tamimi “died a martyr after causing the Zionist state to be in a state of hysteria and terror… and exhausted the security services for several consecutive days.” The PFLP told Anadolu that, “The heroic operation carried out by Al-Tamimi, and its important achievements confirmed the failure of all attempts to separate the occupied city of Jerusalem from our people and our cause.” It called on the Palestinian leadership to “provide all resources to enhance the steadfastness of our people and the families of the martyrs among them.”

According to Islamic Jihad Tamimi’s “martyrdom” will not stop the intifada and clashes throughout the occupied West Bank. “The crimes of the occupation against our people in Jerusalem and the West Bank will not succeed in breaking the strength of our people, and the example set by the martyr Uday in breaking the security system and killing its status will be inspiring to all our resistance fighters and our people.”