Hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza took to the streets June 24-26 to protest the US-proposed “Peace to Prosperity” plan introduced last week. The protests took place at the same time as the Bahrain economic workshop in Manama, where US Middle East envoys met with select Arab leaders to discuss the first part of the Donald Trump administration’s proclaimed “deal of the century.”
Rallies and marches, organized by the Palestinian Authority (PA), took place June 24 in the major West Bank cities of Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus and Jenin as well as in Gaza. Signs declaring “Trump’s plan is a failure” and “Manama meeting denies our right to self-determination” could be seen in Ramallah, along with a cardboard coffin reading “the deal of the century” and “decisions of the Arab League.”
The June 25 protests turned into clashes with the Israeli military near checkpoints in Ramallah and Hebron as well as near the separation barrier in Gaza. Tear gas and sound grenades were used near the Beit El checkpoint in Ramallah to disperse the crowd of about 50 protesters June 25. Gaza saw a total strike June 25. According to Ashraf Amra, a Palestinian journalist in Gaza, 13 people were severely injured in clashes, three from live bullets and 10 from direct strikes from tear gas cannisters.
Protests in the West Bank thinned out June 26, but the day marked the highest turnout in Gaza. Amra told Al-Monitor that thousands of Palestinians marched from the UN Relief and Works Agency headquarters to the UN headquarters in Gaza City. Hundreds also marched in Khan Yunis and Rafah in Gaza, where people burned photos of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Israeli and American flags.
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