Palestinians call for global strike on Monday to demand immediate ceasefire

Palestinian activists and grassroots organisations have called for a global strike on Monday to demand an immediate ceasefire as Israel continues its aggression on Gaza.

The call for the strike has been given by the National and Islamic Forces, a coalition of major Palestinian factions, to Palestinians across the occupied West Bank and supporters across the world to participate in a strike that would include “all aspects of public life” in a show of solidarity amid relentless Israeli attacks.

“We expect the entire globe to join the strike, which comes in the context of a broad international movement involving influential figures. This movement stands against the open genocide in Gaza, the ethnic cleansing and the colonial settlement in the West Bank,” said a statement released by the coalition.

“The strike also opposes attempts to undermine the just national cause of the Palestinian people,” it said.

The coalition called on people across the globe to unite in sending a message of solidarity with the women, children and elderly who have come under Israel’s brutal bombardment of Gaza, which has killed nearly 18,000 people so far – including 297 in the past 24 hours alone – and wounded more than 49,500 others in just over two months.

In response to the call, Lebanon on Sunday said all public offices, primary and secondary schools, as well as official and private higher education institutes, will hold a general strike in support of “the global call for Gaza”, Lebanon’s LBCI news reported on X, formerly known as Twitter.

A growing number of activists across the globe also posted on social media, calling on people to join the global strike on Monday

Rejection of US veto

Muwafaq Sahwil, political party Fatah’s secretary in Ramallah and el-Bireh, said the strike, called by the Palestinians, trade union activists and international influencers, is a rejection of Friday’s veto by the United States against a United Nations Security Council resolution to stop the war on Gaza.

“This is a message to the US administration that stands against the aspirations of our people. It is also a message from people around the world to their politicians and the international community to stand up for the Palestinian people who have been suffering from occupation for 75 years,” he told Al Jazeera.

“We hope the strike will push the international community to help stop the war and to respond to Palestinians’ aspirations to achieve self-determination.”

The 193-member UN General Assembly is likely to vote on Tuesday on a draft resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, media reports said on Sunday.

The General Assembly in October adopted a resolution – 121 votes in favour, 14 against and 44 abstentions – calling for “an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities”.

The calls for the global strike also came as the World Health Organization director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Sunday said it will be all but impossible to improve the “catastrophic” health situation in Gaza even as the board passed an emergency WHO motion to secure more medical access