Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets to demand a ceasefire and Israel’s main union called a strike after six more prisoners were found dead in Gaza.
Clashes between protesters and security forces were reported Sunday night during one of the largest anti-government demonstrations in Israel since the Gaza war began nearly 11 months ago.
Protesters chanted “Now! Now!” and demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a ceasefire with the Palestinian group Hamas to bring home the remaining captives.
Many Israelis blocked roads in Tel Aviv and demonstrated outside Netanyahu’s office in West Jerusalem.
In a statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the families of captives held in Gaza, said the deaths of the six hostages were a direct result of Netanyahu’s failure to reach a deal to end the fighting and bring their loved ones home.
“They were all murdered in recent days, after surviving nearly 11 months of abuse, torture and starvation in Hamas captivity,” the forum said.
Gil Dickmann, a cousin of Carmel Gat, whose body was among those returned, urged Israelis to put more pressure on their government. “Take to the streets and paralyze the country until everyone comes back. They can still be saved,” Dickmann wrote on X.
Gideon Levy, a columnist for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, told Tel Aviv Tribune that Netanyahu was defending the right-wing parties in his government that are opposed to any concessions to Hamas.
“They (the parties) don’t care about the hostages,” he said.
Levy stressed that within Netanyahu’s Likud party, the largest group in the government, Netanyahu wields a lot of power and the party supports him.
“So the challenges within government are very limited,” he said. “The only real challenge would be from the street, but it’s too early to judge that.”
Union calls for general strike
Meanwhile, for the first time since October 7, Israel’s largest trade union federation, the Histadrut, called a general strike to pressure the government to sign a ceasefire agreement.
The union said Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s main air transport hub, would be closed from 8:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Monday, in a bid to shut down or disrupt major sectors of the Israeli economy, including banking and health care.
“A deal is more important than anything else,” Histadrut leader Arnon Bar-David said. “Instead of a deal, we’re being given body bags.”
He said he was supported by leading Israeli industrialists and entrepreneurs in the high-tech sector. The alliance of some of the most powerful voices in the Israeli economy reflects the extent of public anger over the deaths of the six captives.
Municipal services in Tel Aviv, Israel’s economic center, will also be closed for part of the day on Monday.
The Israel Manufacturers Association said it supported the strike and accused the government of failing in its “moral duty” to bring the captives back alive.
“Without the return of the hostages, we will not be able to end the war, we will not be able to rehabilitate ourselves as a society and we will not be able to begin to rehabilitate the Israeli economy,” said the association’s chairman, Ron Tomer.
Israeli opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid said he supported the strike.
But Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has asked the country’s attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, to submit an urgent request to the courts to block the planned nationwide strike.
In his letter, Smotrich argued that a strike had no legal basis since it was aimed at inappropriately influencing important political decisions of politicians on issues related to state security.
He also said that a widespread strike – which would shut down the country, including outgoing flights – would have significant economic consequences that could cause unnecessary economic damage during a time of war.
Truce negotiations between Israel and Hamas have been going on for months, with many accusing Netanyahu of failing to reach an agreement.
The Israeli military has killed at least 40,738 people and wounded 94,154 in its war on Gaza since October 7. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel in attacks by Hamas on October 7, and some 250 people were captured by the group.
The Israeli military has acknowledged the difficulty of rescuing the dozens of remaining captives and said only a deal could allow for a large-scale return.