Palestinians Mark Nakba Day

Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as pro-Palestinian supporters in other Arab nations, marked "Nakba Day" on Tuesday, marking the "catastrophe" of the inception of the State of Israel. The Palestinian Authority has declared a general strike, as did the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, which declared a strike in Israel's Arab sector. The IDF has declared high alert across all borders, and has bolstered its deployment in West Bank cities and along the Gaza border, ahead of possible confrontations. Dozens of Palestinians clashed with IDF soldiers at the Qalandiya checkpoint, near Ramallah, and also near the Cave of the Patriarch in Hebron and some Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. The rioters stoned the troops, who employed crowd-control measures in return. The PA held its main rally in the Yasser Arafat Square in Ramallah, where thousands of Palestinians gathered at noon.