Israel set for general strike after Gaza hostages found dead

Kathmandu: Israel’s main union has ordered a nationwide general strike after soldiers recovered the bodies of six killed hostages from the Gaza Strip where the military is battling Palestinian militants.

Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in the streets of Tel Aviv and other cities on Sunday, to protest the government and call for a hostage release deal. Military said the bodies of the six hostages were recovered Saturday “from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area” in southern Gaza.

They were among 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war, 97 of whom remain captive in Gaza, including 33 the army says are dead. Scores were released during a one-week truce in November. Campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said a negotiated ‘deal for the return of the hostages’ was urgently needed. “Were it not for the delays, sabotage and excuses’ in months of mediation efforts, the six hostages “would likely still be alive’, a statement said.

The families called for a nationwide general strike to force the government to reach a deal. Shortly afterwards, the head of Israel’s powerful Histadrut trade union ordered a “complete strike” on Monday in support of the hostages.  ‘Unacceptable’ Histadrut chairperson Arnon Bar-David said in a statement ‘I have come to the conclusion that only our intervention can shake those who need to be shaken, a deal is not progressing due to political considerations and this is unacceptable’.

During protests in Tel Aviv, demonstrators blocked a highway and confronted authorities, police said in a statement, “forcing” them to declare the protest illegal and disperse the crowd. The six hostages were named as Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino, US-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Russian-Israeli Alexander Lobanov. Military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said all six were abducted alive on the morning of October 7 and brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them.

Critics in Israel have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prolonging the war for political gain. Netanyahu asked Lobanov’s parents on Sunday for ‘forgiveness for not succeeding in bringing Sasha back alive’. According to official figures,  at least 24 Palestinians, including 14 that militant groups said were their members, have been killed since the raids began on Wednesday. One 20-year-old soldier was killed Saturday in what Israel’s military has called “counter-terrorism” operations.

RSS/AFP