Israel’s main labor union calls strike as pressure mounts for hostage deal

JERUSALEM: The head of Israel’s biggest labor union called for a general strike on Monday to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to bring back Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, as thousands of protesters took to the streets.
Earlier, Israel recovered the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel in southern Gaza where they were apparently killed not long before Israeli troops reached them, according to the military, prompting fury and grief among Israelis.
The call for a one-day general strike by Arnon Bar-David, whose Histadrut union represents hundreds of thousands of workers, was backed by Israel’s main manufacturers and entrepreneurs in the high-tech sector.
The alliance of some of the most powerful voices in Israel’s economy reflected the scale of public anger over the deaths of the six hostages, who were among some 250 people seized by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 last year.
“We must reach a deal (on the return of the surviving hostages). A deal is more important than anything else,” Bar-David told a press conference. “We are getting body bags instead of a deal.”
Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s main air transport hub, will be closed from 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Monday, he said. Municipal services in Israel’s economic hub Tel-Aviv will also be shut for part of Monday.
Israel’s Manufacturers’ Association said it backed the strike and accused the government of failing in its “moral duty” to bring the hostages 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 association head Ron Tomer.
Israeli opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid earlier threw his support behind the strike action.

Protests
Thousands of protesters blocked roads on Sunday in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and demonstrated outside Netanyahu’s residence.
The Hostages Families Forum, which represents the families of some of those held in Gaza, said the death of the six was the direct result of Netanyahu’s failure to secure a deal to halt the fighting and bring their loved ones home.
“They were all murdered in the last few days, after surviving almost 11 months of abuse, torture and starvation in Hamas captivity,” the group said in a statement.
Some 101 hostages are still being held in Gaza, although Israel believes one-third are no longer alive. Netanyahu and many hard-liners in his government, as well their supporters, remain opposed to any hostage deal that would release militants from Israeli prisons and help to keep Hamas in power.