Workers in Israel are warming up for a general strike as protests continue over what is seen as the government’s failure to secure the release of hostages still in the captivity of Hamas.
There have been high tensions since the bodies of the six hostages were recovered by soldiers on Saturday, sparking national outrage.
Tens of thousands of people rallied in Israel on Sunday, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of not doing enough to reach an agreement on the remaining hostages taken by Hamas in the attack on the 7th ‘October.
The call for a one-day strike on Monday was made by Israel’s biggest trade union, the Histadrut, whose leader, Arnon Bar-David, said the country was getting body bags instead of an agreement.
The government expressed anger at the union’s action, with far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich accusing it of playing into Hamas’ hands.
Many cities and municipalities have announced that they will not participate and it is not yet clear how the closure will be observed.
However, the call for a national strike is the latest indication that public anger over the recent hostage killings will not subside soon.
The Israeli military said earlier that the six bodies were discovered on Saturday in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area of southern Gaza.
The names of the hostages killed were Carmel Gat, Alexander Lobanov, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Almog Sarusi and Sergeant Ori Danino.
The IDF said they were killed shortly before its troops got to them on Saturday.
That sparked the Sunday protests, with crowds accusing the government and Netanyahu personally of failing to rescue the remaining hostages.
The protests on Sunday were largely peaceful, but crowds broke through police lines and blocked a main street in Tel Aviv.
Some climbed onto buses and trash cans to gain a vantage point in the march, while others surrounded someone wearing a Netanyahu mask, chanting: “Alive, alive, we want them alive.”
One protester held a sign that read: “You’re the head. You are to blame.” Protesters, many carrying Israeli flags, also descended on Jerusalem and other Israeli cities.
The protests have disrupted humanitarian efforts in Gaza, where the United Nations announced on Sunday that the first full day of a campaign to vaccinate 640,000 children against polio was a success.
The rollout relies on a series of localized pauses in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters, and the first three-day window began on Sunday.
Hamas abducted 251 people and killed another 1,200 during its attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel says 97 of those hostages are still being held in Gaza, including 33 presumed dead.
The Israeli military retaliated by launching a ground and air offensive in Gaza to destroy Hamas.
The Hamas health ministry puts the number of those killed in Gaza at more than 40,738 since then.
Source: BBC News
