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A general strike has shut down much of Israel amid growing anger at the government’s failure to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas after the death of six captives in Gaza at the weekend.
The strike represents one of the biggest expressions of public anger at Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war since Hamas’s attack on October 7 last year and is the first widespread industrial action.
On Monday, departures from Ben Gurion international airport were halted; universities, shopping malls and ports were shuttered; and government ministries closed. Schools were set to open for only a handful of hours. In Jerusalem, some shops were still open and bus services continued to run.
The shutdown comes after a night of mass demonstrations in Tel Aviv and other cities, the largest since the start of the war in Gaza. Public anger escalated on Sunday after the Israel Defense Forces retrieved the bodies of six Israeli hostages seized by Hamas last year during the group’s assault on southern Israel.
Histadrut, the country’s largest trade union federation, called the strike on Sunday, pushing for Netanyahu’s government to agree a deal for the return of the last 101 hostages.
Arnon Bar-David, the powerful Histadrut chief, alleged that Netanyahu was attempting to scuttle any possible agreement in an effort to keep his governing coalition intact.
“It’s inconceivable that our children will die in tunnels due to political interests and calculations,” Bar-David said on Sunday in a speech at a demonstration in Tel Aviv. More demonstrations are expected on Monday.
The bodies of Carmel Gat, who was kidnapped by Hamas from the Be’eri kibbutz; Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli-American whose parents had lobbied US President Joe Biden for his return; and four others kidnapped from the Nova music festival — Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino — were found in a tunnel dozens of metres underground in Rafah.
“According to our initial assessment, they were cruelly murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,” said military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari on Sunday. An Israeli pathological investigation indicated all six had been shot at close range over the past several days.
Hamas suggested in a statement that the group had died in an Israeli air strike. The IDF described the Hamas statement as “psychological warfare”.
Yet the announcement of the hostages’ deaths spurred widespread condemnation of Netanyahu for failing to conclude a ceasefire deal with the Palestinian militant group. Israeli intelligence believes at least 35 of the hostages are no longer alive.
The US, Qatar and Egypt have for months been attempting to mediate between the warring parties in an effort to secure a deal that would halt the fighting in Gaza and secure the release of the hostages.
“All of them, now,” protesters in Tel Aviv chanted on Sunday night as they blocked a main highway outside IDF military headquarters and demanded that Netanyahu accept a deal, even if it means ending the war.