A Palestinian man shops at a supermarket in Gaza City, Jan. 15, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Mohammed Salem.

Palestine Today reports:

Palestinian factions announced on Tuesday a comprehensive trade strike with a one-quarter-hour stoppage to express the real catastrophe in the Gaza Strip as a result of the deteriorating economic situation.

The factions said during a press conference that Gaza was a barrel of gunpowder that was about to explode if it did not break the silence, calling on the Palestinian Authority to take responsibility, especially after the government took over its duties in the Gaza Strip in accordance with the recent Cairo agreement.

The factions called on the international community to act and provide urgent aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, appealing to Egypt to open the Rafah crossing, allowing it to enter the Gaza Strip.

It renewed its call on the League of Arab States and the Islamic Cooperation Organization to move to save the sector.

Hamas wants the PA to pay what it owes. The PA says that Hamas isn’t handing over tax revenues it collects.

And on it goes.

Police in Gaza stopped all traffic in major intersections for 15 minutes on Wednesday to protest the situation.

There are some occasional articles in Western media about the real economic crisis in Gaza — a crisis that is entirely Arab-created — but for the most part, the true story of the Palestinians’ role in the situation is being totally ignored.

Why? Because the media is only interested in the story if Israel can be blamed. The meme of an “Israeli siege” is too strong for lazy journalists to bother contradicting.

And ultimately, in the end, no journalist or NGO wants to criticize Mahmoud Abbas.