Lebanon on strike in solidarity with Gaza

Public institutions were closed Monday in Lebanon amid a general strike in solidarity with Gaza and south Lebanon.

Banks including the central bank, public and private schools, universities, and archaeological sites were also closed.

Meanwhile in Palestine, shops were shuttered in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

Pro-Palestinian activists had called for a global day of boycotts and strikes to demand a ceasefire in Gaza, as Israel faces international outrage for its military offensive which has killed more than 17,700 Palestinians in Gaza, around two-thirds of them women and children. About 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, where U.N. agencies say there is no safe place to flee.

The United States has provided vital support to Israel in recent days by vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire and pushing through an emergency sale of over $100 million worth of tank ammunition to Israel. The U.N. General Assembly plans to vote Tuesday on a similar resolution.