General strike in Israel after finding 6 hostages dead

2024-09-02 15:25:10, Kosova & Bota CNA

A rare call for a general strike has been made in Israel after the bodies of six dead hostages were found in the Gaza Strip. The strike led to work stoppages across the country, including at the main international airport. Monday's strike, however, was ignored in some areas, reflecting deep political divisions. A court overturned it Monday morning, and as VOA correspondent Linda Gradstein reports, some blame the Israeli government for failing to reach a cease-fire agreement with Hamas.

Just days after their families shared loudspeaker messages about the hostages from Israel's border with Gaza, the Israeli military announced that the bodies of the six hostages had been found in a tunnel in southern Gaza. Among the hostages killed was Hersh Goldberg Polin, an American-Israeli citizen.

"They were brutally killed by Hamas terrorists just before we reached them. They were kidnapped alive on the morning of October 7 by the terrorist organization Hamas. Their bodies were found during the fighting in Rafah in an underground tunnel, approximately one kilometer from the tunnel where we rescued Farhan Alkadin, a few days ago," announced Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari.

The Israeli press says the operation to rescue them may have provoked Hamas to kill the six hostages, fearing Israeli soldiers were closing in. It was also announced that three of the six killed would be released on humanitarian grounds in the first phase of the ceasefire, including American-Israeli Goldberg Paul and two women.

In mass demonstrations across the country, protesters say the government is sabotaging a deal to release the hostages in favor of maintaining a military presence along the Gaza-Egypt border.

This was confirmed by government cabinet ministers a few days ago and, according to Israeli press reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that their decision is likely to mean the failure of negotiations for a hostage deal.

But after the killing of the six hostages, Mr Netanyahu blamed Hamas for the lack of a hostage deal.

"These days, while Israel is conducting intensive negotiations with mediators to try to reach an agreement, Hamas continues to steadfastly reject any proposal... Anyone who kills hostages does not want an agreement," Prime Minister Netanyahu said.

Polls show that a majority of the Israeli public supports a ceasefire agreement as the only way to release the hostages, even if it means that Hamas is not completely destroyed, according to Gershon Baskin, one of Israel's negotiators with Hamas.

"The military coup did not release the hostages. Eight hostages were rescued in the operations. There are still 100 hostages in Gaza. If we learned anything, it is that military pressure will not save them, but will kill them", says Mr. Baskin.

Amid national mourning for the six hostages killed, Israelis have taken to the streets in mass demonstrations against Mr Netanyahu's military policy. They held a one-day general strike on Monday.

A labor court ruled that the strike must end at noon local time, accepting a petition from the government that said the strike was politically motivated./ VOA