Israel disruption as strike and protests push for Gaza hostage deal

Hundreds of protesters demanding a hostage release deal blocked a major road in Tel Aviv

Israel's biggest trade union has said hundreds of thousands of people joined the general strike it called to put pressure on the government to agree a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas.

Businesses, schools and transport were disrupted before a court ordered everyone to return to work, ruling that Histadrut’s strike was largely political.

Thousands also took part in fresh protests called by hostages' families to express their anger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's failure to bring home their loved ones after almost 11 months.

Tensions have been running high since the bodies of six hostages were found on Saturday. Israel said they were shot and killed by Hamas.

Many accuse Mr Netanyahu of blocking a deal to prioritise his own political survival - a claim he rejects.

His far-right allies have threatened to pull out of the coalition government, undermining his chances of staying in power, if he were to accept a deal tied to a permanent ceasefire before Hamas was destroyed.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 40,780 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

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US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators are trying to broker a ceasefire deal that would see Hamas release the 97 hostages still being held, including 33 who are presumed dead, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

When asked by reporters in Washington if he thought Mr Netanyahu was doing enough to secure an agreement, US President Joe Biden replied: “No.”

He spoke after meeting American mediators who he said “very close” to presenting what US media described as a final proposal to Israel and Hamas.

Histadrut spokesman Peter Lerner told the BBC on Monday morning that there was disruption across the private and public sectors of the Israeli economy after the general strike began at 06:00 local time (03:00 GMT).

Suitcases were “piling up at Ben Gurion International Airport”, that ports were “slowing their activity”, and that some municipalities were participating, he said.

A Ben Gurion airport spokeswoman said it was operating “as usual”, although Israeli media reported that departures were stopped for two hours in the morning.

There was also scattered evidence of the strike in the nearby city of Tel Aviv. Most shops and restaurants appeared to be open, some buses were running, and there were many people out in the streets and cafes.

One cafe worker told the BBC that almost all the bars and restaurants in the area had shut on Sunday night in solidarity with the protests, but that they had now reopened. “I don’t agree with the decision,” she said. “We should have closed.”

Another woman, who was picking up a street scooter, said: “I don’t agree with the strike. We want the hostages back - but we can’t stop everything; we need to live.”

Later, the Labour Court in Tel Aviv ruled that the strike had to end at 14:30 (11:30 GMT), following a request for an injunction from the government. The court said the strike had no economic basis and was largely political.

Histadrut’s chairman, Arnon Bar-David, said he respected the ruling but also defended the strike.

“Despite attempts to paint this solidarity in political colours, hundreds of thousands of citizens voted with their feet,” he said.

“We have proven that the fate of the hostages is neither right-wing nor left-wing; it is a matter of life or death, and we will not allow lives to be abandoned.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israelis had gone to work “in droves” and proven that they were no longer slaves to “political needs”.

“We won’t allow harm to the Israeli economy and thereby serve the interests of [Yahya] Sinwar and Hamas,” he said, referring to the Palestinian armed group's leader.

Members of the Gevurah Forum, which represents some families of soldiers killed during the war and opposes the proposed hostage deal, protested against the strike outside the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem. “Shutting down the economy is a prize for Hamas,” they chanted, according to the Times of Israel.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, another far-right leader, told the crowd: “Today, we have power in the government, and I'm not ashamed to say that we're using this power to prevent a reckless deal and to stop any negotiations altogether.”

Departures from Ben Gurion airport were reportedly halted for two hours due to the strike

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents some hostages’ families, meanwhile called for fresh demonstrations to demand an immediate deal.

Israeli media reported that thousands of people protesters took to the streets in several cities.

Large crowds blocked a highway in central Tel Aviv, while six yellow wreaths bearing the word “sorry” were also laid in what has become known as Hostages’ Square.

The Hostages Families Forum said it was a message to the hostages whose bodies were found by Israeli forces in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area of southern Gaza on Saturday - Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sgt Ori Danino.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said all six were “brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them”.

The Israeli health ministry said post mortem examinations showed that they had died between 48 and 72 hours before they were found, which would be between Thursday and Friday morning, and that they had been shot and killed with “several close-range gunshots".

Hamas has rejected that charge, saying the hostages were killed by Israeli forces.

Following the discovery of the bodies, some families said Mr Netanyahu had their loved ones’ blood on his hands.

At Sunday night’s protests - the biggest in Israel since the start of the war, with hundreds of thousands demonstrating across the country - there were chants of “murderer”. Others chanted: “Alive, alive, we want them alive.”

The protests were largely peaceful, but crowds broke through police lines and blocked a major highway in Tel Aviv. The police force said 29 people were arrested.

Sharone Lifschitz - whose 84-year-old father Oded is among the remaining hostages - told the BBC: “We have asked the citizens of Israel for months to join us on the streets. They have now joined us on the streets. This is an incredible development.”

“I want the government of Israel to look beyond the narrow interests of their own political parties and their own survival, and do the decent thing and find a way to bring these people home, to finish and reach a ceasefire. We know that we have no time,” she said.

Mr Netanyahu reiterated in a video statement on Sunday that Israeli negotiators had agreed to a hostage release deal at the end of May which Hamas had rejected.

“In recent days, as Israel has been holding intensive negotiations with the mediator in a supreme effort to reach a deal, Hamas is continuing to steadfastly refuse all proposals,” he said. “Even worse, at the exact same time, it murdered six of our hostages. Whoever murders hostages - does not want a deal.”

Hamas blamed the hostages’ deaths on Israel and the United States, accusing them of issuing new demands for a deal, including for lasting Israeli control over the strategic Philadelphi corridor, a narrow buffer zone which runs along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.

“The six hostages and others could have been released to their families as part of a real exchange deal while they were alive, but the insistence of the occupation army, Netanyahu and his extremist government is the reason why these people lost their lives,” Hamas political bureau member Khalil al-Hayya said.