Nablus – Ma'an – The Union of West Bank University Employees announced on Monday that classes will be suspended on Tuesday and Wednesday, coinciding with a student senate strike on Wednesday and Thursday.

Markam Daraghma, head of the student senate union, told Ma'an that the two-day strike was declared because of ongoing disputes over the Ministry of Higher Education's decision to change scholarship money into loans. Daraghma said the ministry had broken an agreement made with the senate in February, and that further protests would be announced in the coming days.

The head of An-Najah University's employees union, Husam Abdul-Halim, told Ma'an that more than 10,000 employees will strike on campus on Tuesday and Wednesday. Abdul-Halim added that the union will hold a session on Tuesday at the Nablus university, where an escalation in protests is likely to be announced.

The union head said the protests are a response to the Ramallah-based Palestinian government's continuous "haggling" over employee demands, which include a salary increase in relation to the cost of living, and inclusion on the government's retirement scheme as civil service employees.