Mobilization grew in Israel on Monday, September 2, with a view to increasing pressure on the government to obtain the release of hostages held in Gaza, following the death of six of them, despite the decision of an Israeli court to end the strike. A strike movement developed unevenly in the country during the day.
Thousands of Israelis took to the streets again, a day after mass demonstrations in several cities across the country, to demand the return of the hostages. On Monday afternoon, hundreds of people gathered outside the Har Hamenouhot cemetery in Jerusalem for the funeral of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the six hostages found dead in the Gaza Strip. Four of them were buried on Sunday.
Addressing the families of these hostages during a rare press conference on Monday afternoon, Benjamin Netanyahu declared: “I apologize for not bringing them back alive. We came close but we didn’t make it.”. “These murderers executed six of our hostages by shooting them in the back of the head”The prime minister added, echoing the findings of the Israeli Health Ministry, which carried out the autopsy on the bodies. Hamas’s chief negotiator, Khalil Al-Hayya, said on Al-Jazeera on Sunday that “bombing” Israel was responsible for their deaths.
The court orders the end of the strike
The strike movement, initiated by the powerful Histadrout trade union, was met with mixed response: several municipalities, particularly Jerusalem, did not follow the order.
Several major cities, including Tel Aviv and Haifa, followed the call for a strike and announced the closure of municipal services on Monday. Disruptions were also reported at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion Airport, where departures partially resumed at 10 a.m. (9 a.m. in Paris) after two hours of total disruption.
In the towns participating in the movement, public transport, managed by private companies, was at least partially operational. The strike also had mixed success in government services. “There is no reception for the public today, but we are working in the offices”an Israeli social security employee told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity.
At noon, the Tel Aviv labor court, led by Bezalel Smotrich (far right), finance minister in the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered the immediate end of the strike. The court considered in order to justify its decision that “It was clear that it was a political strike”stating that he had not found “no economic argument” in the Histadrut’s explanations for the strike. Arnon Bar-David, the president of the federation, said shortly afterwards in a press release: “We live in a state of law and we respect the court’s decision. Therefore, I order everyone to return to work at 2:30 p.m..
The mobilization comes after the Israeli army announced on Sunday that it had discovered the bodies of six hostages in the Gaza Strip, the scene of a devastating war that has been raging for nearly eleven months between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. “The bodies of hostages Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino” They were found on Saturday in a “tunnel in the Rafah area”In the southern Gaza Strip, the army made a statement, sparking shock and anger in Israel.
