Israel live an afternoon of mass demonstrations who demand from the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuwho agrees to seal a truce deal with the Islamist group Hamas, while the opposition leader calls for a general strike after the discovery of six hostages dead in Gaza.
The Hostage Relatives Forum called this evening for “a commemorative march, bearing symbolic coffins”, in Tel Aviv, and called for further marches in Jerusalem and dozens of locations across Israel. On Saturday night, thousands of people had already taken to the streets of Tel Aviv to protest against Netanyahu and his far-right government, demanding early elections and the signing of a truce agreement with Hamas that would allow for the release of the 97 hostages (a third of whom are dead) who remain captive in Gaza.
But the fuse was further lit on Sunday when the Israeli military confirmed that the bodies it had recovered from a tunnel in southern Gaza matched those of six hostages – four men and two women – whom Hamas had abducted in its October 7 attack.They were alive. Netanyahu and the death cabinet decided not to save them“There are still hostages alive there, a deal can still be made. Netanyahu is not doing this for political reasons,” lamented opposition leader Yair Lapid, who called on business owners and local authorities to go on general strike.
Under the slogan “Stop the Nation”, this initiative was supported by the Israel Business Forum, which brings together the 200 largest companies in the countrywith calls for a general strike that could begin on Monday. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai announced that his city would go on strike in support of the hostages’ families. “There will be no public reception [en nuestras oficinas] and will allow all employees to come out to support the families’ struggle,” he said. The mayors of Givatayim, Ran Kunik, and Kfar Saba, Rafi Saar, also announced that they were joining the strike with the closure of their municipal offices.
Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid party, has demanded an extraordinary session of the Israeli parliament (Knesset) to discuss a new truce deal with Hamas, similar to the one reached last November that freed 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. However, the Israeli chamber is on recess until the end of October and a regular plenary session would require the support of at least 25 lawmakers; and to demand Netanyahu’s help, 40 lawmakers are needed.
For the hostages’ relatives, their loved ones would be alive if Netanyahu had signed a pact with Hamas, which the majority of his cabinet opposes.Those who murder kidnapped people don’t want a deal“, the prime minister responded in a recorded message, shortly before asking for “forgiveness” from the family of one of the dead hostages. Negotiations for a ceasefire that would allow the release of the hostages remaining in Gaza have reached an impasse. Amidst cross-accusations of adding new demands to the truce proposal that the United States extended in May.
