Israel's largest trade union, the Histadrut, called for a general strike on Monday after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza and dozens of Israelis took to the streets to demand that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a ceasefire deal.
Histadrut president Arnon Bar David called for the strikes at a press conference on Sunday, saying “an agreement must be reached. An agreement is more important than anything else.” Reuters reported.
“Instead of deals we're getting body bags,” he said.
Ben Gurion Airport, Israel's main air transport hub, will be closed from 8 a.m. local time on Monday, the spokesman said. Public services in Tel Aviv will also be closed for part of the day on Monday.
The announcement came hours after the Israeli military confirmed it had found the bodies of six hostages in the Gaza Strip, including Hersh Goldberg Pollin, a native of Berkeley, California.I said on Sunday The six hostages were killed in an underground tunnel in Rafah shortly before Hamas forces arrived.
The recovery of the bodies immediately sparked further protests and calls for Prime Minister Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that would ensure the release of the remaining hostages.
Protests took place on Sunday, with many chanting “Now! Now!” The Associated Press Reported.
The war has been raging for nearly 11 months since Hamas launched a surprise incursion into southern Israel on Oct. 7, prompting Israel to launch a counterattack in the Gaza Strip, which Hamas has controlled since 2007.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has been adamant that the war will continue until Hamas is destroyed, and has said military pressure is needed to bring the hostages home.
Israeli retaliatory operations aimed at eliminating the threat from Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States, have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians since early October and forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip, according to local and international health officials.
The Israeli Manufacturers Association supported the strike, saying the government was failing in its moral obligations.
“We eagerly await the return of the abductees and must do everything we can to bring them home. This is our moral obligation as people and as a country. Without the return of the abductees, we cannot end the war and we cannot recover as a society,” said Ron Tomer, president of the association. I wrote in X's translation post. “And we will not be able to begin to restore Israel's economy and its economy. We are torn and divided, and this is the place to act to unite Israeli society.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Hamas would “pay a price” for the deaths of the six hostages.
“We will not rest, nor will we be silent. We will hunt you, we will find you, and we will finish with you.”He added:“Whoever kills the hostages doesn't want a deal.”
He claimed Hamas had “refused to engage in serious negotiations” and said Israel had agreed to a hostage release deal with the full support of the United States, but Hamas had rejected it.
But Hamas claims it has offered to release the hostages in exchange for an end to the fighting, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the release of some Palestinian prisoners, according to the Associated Press.
Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, told The Associated Press that the hostages would survive if Israel accepted a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal that the militant group said it had agreed to in July.
