Israel is preparing for a general strike as protests continue over what is seen as the government’s failure to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Tensions have been high since troops found the bodies of six hostages on Saturday, sparking nationwide outrage.
Tens of thousands of people protested across Israel on Sunday, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of not doing enough to reach a deal over the remaining hostages seized by Hamas in the October 7 attack.
The call for a one-day strike on Monday was made by Israel’s largest labor federation, the Histadrut, whose head, Arnon Bar-David, said the country was getting “body bags instead of a deal”.
The government reacted angrily to the league’s actions, with far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich accusing the league of playing to Hamas’s wishes.
It’s unclear how widely the order will be enforced after some cities and municipalities said they would not participate.
However, the call for a nationwide strike is the latest sign that public anger over the recent hostage killings will not subside.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said earlier that six bodies were found on Saturday in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area of southern Gaza.
The hostages were identified as Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Sergeant Ori Danino.
The IDF said they were killed shortly before the army closed in on Saturday.
The incident sparked protests on Sunday, as crowds accused the government and Netanyahu personally of failing to rescue the remaining hostages.
Sunday protest The protests were largely peaceful – but crowds broke through police lines, blocking a major highway in Tel Aviv.
Some climbed onto buses and trash bins to get a good view of the parade, while others surrounded a man wearing a Netanyahu mask, chanting: “Live, live, we want them alive.”
A protester holds a sign that reads: “You are the leader. You are responsible.”
Protesters – many carrying Israeli flags – also poured into Jerusalem and other Israeli cities.
The protests have overshadowed humanitarian efforts in Gaza, where the United Nations said on Sunday that the first day of a vaccination campaign for 640,000 children The fight against polio has been successful.
The deployment follows a series of localized pauses in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants, and the first three-day period began on Sunday.
It is unclear how many hostages remain in Gaza. Hamas kidnapped 251 people and killed 1,200 others in an attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
The Israeli military responded by launching a ground and air attack on Gaza to destroy Hamas.
More than 40,738 people have died in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
