General strike hits West Bank in response to Haniyeh's assassination

RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Palestinian national and Islamic forces declared Wednesday a general strike and called for “anger demonstrations” in response to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

“The assassination of the great national leader Ismail Haniyeh is 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,” said the Palestinian forces in a statement.

Mourning the Palestinian leader, the forces 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 covers all cities and towns in the West Bank, and Haniyeh was mourned via loudspeakers in many mosques across the West Bank, Anadolu correspondent reported.

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas announced early Wednesday that Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his residence in the Iranian capital Tehran.

Iranian state television also reported Haniyeh’s death, noting that an investigation into the assassination is ongoing and that the findings will be released soon.

Israel has made no immediate announcement about the assassination.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala