Israeli citizens are being called on to take part in a “general strike” en masse today to force Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to strike a deal ceasefire and the release of the hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the day after the Israeli army recovered the bodies of six hostages in an underground tunnel.
It paralyzes Israel
From 06:00 (local time and Greek time), “the entire Israeli economy will be in a general strike”, the head of the powerful central confederation of labor unions, Arnon Bar David, lamented yesterday, as “we must manage to end this abandonment of hostages”.
The airport is closed
“At 08:00 the airport will be closed, take-offs and landings will stop,” the confederation HISTADRUT said.
Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of Israelis—as many as half a million, according to media estimates—demonstrated in various cities to demand, once again, that a deal be struck to release the hostages. In Tel Aviv, protesters blocked a highway. Television networks broadcast footage of police using water cannons against protesters. The authorities spoke of 29 arrests.
Over 300,000 people gathered in #TelAviv tonight, demanding a ceasefire and a hostages deal. Protesters accuse #Netanyahu of blocking the agreement. Left-wing groups are planning a general strike on Monday, marking the biggest demonstrations in #Israel since early 2023.… pic.twitter.com/GaYd3l73Nn
— Ghulam Abbas Shah (@ghulamabbasshah) September 1, 2024
The demonstrations were recorded after the announcement yesterday by the Israeli armed forces that the bodies of six hostages were found in the Gaza Strip, theater of a devastating war, which on Saturday will close eleven months, between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement that rules the enclave.
Protest against the government following the killing of hostages taken during the deadly October 7 attack in Tel Aviv
Disagreement between YPAM and Netanyahu
Defense Minister Yoav Galland — who frequently clashes with Prime Minister Netanyahu — also called for a deal yesterday, while opposition leader former Prime Minister Yair Lapidcalled on citizens to descend on the demonstration yesterday in Tel Aviv.
Trying to prevent the strike
In a last-minute effort to prevent the 24-hour strike, far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, member of the government’s national security council, asked the judiciary to declare the mobilization illegal.
Rage in Israel
The bodies of six hostages, including two women, were found yesterday Saturday in a “tunnel in the Rafah zone”, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, the armed forces said, shocking and angering many in Israel.
“Stop the war”
The American president Joe Biden said his French counterpart “devastated” and “outraged”. Emmanuel Macron he declared himself “disgusted” and demanded that “the war stop”.
They buried the hostages
At least four of the hostages were buried yesterday, with grieving families in attendance.
“They abandoned you, every day, every hour, for 331 days (…) they sacrificed you to ‘destroy Hamas,'” said Nira Serousi, saying goodbye to her child at the funeral of her son Almog.
Funeral of hostage Eden Yerushalmi, whose body was taken from Gaza to Israel, in Petach Tikva
He was referring to the practically daily statements made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, who vows to continue the war until the annihilation of Hamas, which Israel designates as a terrorist organization, as do the US and the EU.
Netanyahu under pressure
Mr. Netanyahu, under pressure for months to conclude a deal for the hostages, after months of absolute deadlock, announced yesterday that he would “settle the score” with Hamas.
Israel: “They were shot at point blank range”
According to the Israeli Ministry of Health, the autopsy performed on the bodies of the six hostages showed that they were killed by bullets almost “from contact” between “Thursday and Friday morning”.
Hamas denies it
Instead, a Hamas official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the victims were “killed by (Israeli) gunfire and shelling,” noting that all six victims were included “on a list of hostages to be released.” endorsed by the Palestinian movement.
“Either Netanyahu or the agreement”
Israelis will now have to “choose: either Netanyahu or the deal,” another Hamas official told Reuters news agency.
Months of negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US have so far failed to produce an agreement despite pressure from Washington.
“No agreement without a complete withdrawal of the Israelis from Gaza”
Speaking yesterday on the Al Jazeera television network, Mr Khalil Al Hayaa top Hamas negotiator, reiterated that the movement will not accept any deal unless it provides for the complete withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from the Gaza Strip, including the so-called Philadelphia and Netzarim corridors — which has become a major obstacle in the talks.
The blood toll in Gaza and Israel
During the unprecedented raid by the military arm of Hamas in the southern part of the Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, 251 people were kidnapped. Of these, 97 remain in the enclave, but 33 of them have been declared dead by the Israeli army.
Hamas’ raid on Israel killed 1,205 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.
Israel’s large-scale military retaliatory operations have so far killed at least 40,738 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas health ministry, caused a humanitarian and health disaster and displaced almost the entire population of 2.4 million. According to the UN, the majority of victims were women and children.
Vaccination campaign in Gaza
Yesterday the central part of the besieged Palestinian enclave experienced a few hours of respite as a major polio vaccination campaign began, thanks to three-day “humanitarian pauses”, from 06:00 to 14:00.
The aim is to vaccinate more than 640,000 children under the age of ten, following the confirmation of the first case of the disease in the Gaza Strip in 25 years.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, 72,611 children were vaccinated against polio on the first day of the campaign.
Israel continues in the West Bank
At the same time, Israel is continuing the wide-ranging military operation it launched last Wednesday in the occupied West Bank since 1967.
Heavy explosions were heard for hours yesterday near the refugee camp in Jeninfrom where thick clouds of smoke were rising.
At least 24 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed by the Israeli army in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry. All the victims were “terrorists”, the Israeli army claims.
Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another armed movement, have announced that 14 of their members were killed.
In the southern West Bank, three Israeli police officers, including a woman, were killed yesterday near a checkpoint during an “armed attack”, according to police. A Palestinian who was allegedly the attacker was killed by the armed forces, according to the same source.
Source: APE – BEE, ertnews.gr
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