Tens of thousands of protesters have marched through Israel’s main cities calling for an immediate hostage deal to release those who remain held captive by Hamas.
It comes after Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza over the weekend. There are 101 remaining Israeli hostages in captivity.
Major unions have now called to “shut down the economy”, setting off one of the largest protests in Israel since 7 October.
Hostages
Over the weekend, Israel’s Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed it had recovered the bodies of six citizens who had been held hostage by Hamas since 7 October.
Five of the hostages were aged between 23 and 32, and were abducted from the Nova music festival. The sixth person, Carmel Gat, was a 40-year-old woman who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri, near the Gaza border.
The IDF said Hamas killed the six hostages “at close range… shortly before” the military reached them in a tunnel underneath Rafah.
Ceasefire talks
For many months, countries including Qatar and the U.S. have been mediating talks to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas. That deal would see a ceasefire in Gaza, where the Gaza Health Ministry says 40,000 people have been killed, in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages.
In a statement over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Hamas, saying it “has refused to hold genuine negotiations”.
Hamas has repeatedly blamed Israel for not agreeing to a permanent ceasefire.
Strikes
Israel’s most powerful labour union, Histadrut, called for sweeping strike action across the country.
Head of the union, Arnon Bar-David, called on the whole country to “come to a standstill and unite in a shared cry to bring the hostages back”, criticising the Government for prioritising “narrow considerations and interests” over rescuing the hostages.
The Hostages Families Forum joined calls to strike in order to achieve “the immediate implementation of a deal to release the hostages”.
Workers from a range of industries, spanning private and public sector jobs, took to the streets to strike.
Many turned out in Tel Aviv and protesters gathered outside PM Netanyahu’s office in western Jerusalem.
They chanted “Now! Now!”, urging the Government to reach a deal to release the hostages immediately.
The strikes also include a planned shutdown of Israel’s main international airport, Ben Gurion Airport, starting later today.
Political pressure
Israel’s Opposition Leader, Yair Lapid, joined protesters in the city of Tel Aviv to criticise the Netanyahu Government’s efforts to return hostages to Israel.
In a post about the protests, he said: “The people of Israel came en masse to tell the cabinet of death: we want [the hostages] alive — at home. They can’t keep dying there.”
More than two-thirds of Israeli voters don’t want Benjamin Netanyahu to run as Prime Minister again, according to new polling published by the broadcaster Channel 12.
Government response
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has asked national authorities to stop the strike from taking place. He said: “These issues are… not the subject of a strike by labour organisations and there is no connection between them and labour relations in Israel.”
He has accused the union of trying to advance a “political opinion”.
The strikes are scheduled to continue through the week.