Israel’s main union ordered a nationwide strike on Sunday as troops recovered the bodies of six dead hostages in the Gaza Strip, where the army is battling Palestinian militants.
The remains of six people were recovered from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area of southern Gaza on Saturday, the army said.
They were among 251 hostages taken during Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, which kicked off the ongoing war. Of those, 97 are still being held in Gaza, 33 of whom the military says are dead.
Several people were released under a week-long agreement in November, but relatives of those still held hostage believe not enough is being done to secure their release.
Campaign group Hostage and Missing Families Forum said a negotiated settlement for the return of the hostages was urgently needed.
Had mediation efforts not been marred by months of delays, sabotage and excuses, the six hostages “would likely still be alive,” a statement said.
The families called for a nationwide general strike to pressure the government to reach a compromise to secure the release of the remaining detainees.
Soon after, the head of Israel’s powerful Histadrut trade union ordered a “full strike” on Monday in support of the hostages.
‘Complete strike’
“I have come to the conclusion that only our intervention can move those who need to be moved,” Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar David said in a statement.
“Starting at six o’clock tomorrow morning the entire Israeli economy will go on a total strike.”
“The deal is not moving forward because of political reasons and that is unacceptable.”
The six hostages are Carmel Gat, who was captured from a kibbutz community near the Gaza border, and Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarousi, Ori Danino, American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Russian-Israeli Alexander Lobanov – who were captured by Palestinian terrorists from a concert venue.
Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said all six men were “abducted alive on the morning of October 7” and “cruelly murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before our arrival”.
Qatar-based Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said six people were “killed in Zionist (Israeli) bombing”, although the army denied the allegation.
A senior Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that “some” of the six had been “approved” for release under a possible hostage-prisoner swap that has yet to be agreed.
Critics in Israel have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prolonging the war for political gain.
Netanyahu told Lobanov’s parents on Sunday: “I want to tell you how sorry I am that I was not able to bring Sasha back alive, and I ask for your forgiveness.”
He blamed Hamas leaders “who murder hostages and do not want a compromise”, and vowed to “settle scores” with them.
Attack on the West Coast
U.S. President Joe Biden said he was “shocked and angered” by their deaths, but told reporters he was “still optimistic” a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages could be reached.
The Biden administration has been involved in ceasefire mediation efforts with Qatar and Egypt.
In the occupied West Bank, as troops were in the fifth day of coordinated raids targeting Palestinian militants, Israeli police said three officers were killed in a “shooting attack”.
The attack near Hebron caps a surge in violence in the region, where at least 24 Palestinians have been killed by the army since Israeli raids began on Wednesday, including 14 members of activist groups.
A 20-year-old soldier was killed in the raids on Saturday, which the Israeli military described as an “anti-terrorism” operation.
Three police officers were killed in a “shooting attack” near the Tarqumiya checkpoint in the Hebron area of the southern West Bank on Sunday.
The army said it had “eliminated” the suspected attacker after surrounding a house in Hebron.
In the northern West Bank, an AFP photographer saw Israeli bulldozers in the centre of the city of Jenin, a day after an official said troops had destroyed most roads and cut off electricity and water to a nearby refugee camp.
Later on Sunday, an AFP photographer heard loud explosions near the camp and saw black smoke rising over the town.
At least 637 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers since the Gaza war began, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
According to official figures, 23 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed during Palestinian attacks or military operations during the same period.
Polio vaccination
In the besieged Gaza Strip, a “humanitarian pause” in the nearly 11-month war between Israel and Hamas was due to take place to allow a mass polio vaccination campaign to go ahead, which a health official told AFP had begun on Sunday.
Hamas attacks on October 7 killed 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli official figures.
Israeli attacks have killed at least 40,738 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN human rights office says most of the dead are women and children.
The fighting has devastated Gaza, repeatedly displacing most of its 2.4 million people and creating a humanitarian crisis. Water, sanitation and medical facilities have been devastated, contributing to the spread of preventable diseases.
The World Health Organization said Israel had agreed to a series of three-day “humanitarian pauses” to facilitate a vaccination campaign that aims to reach some 640,000 children, after Gaza reported its first confirmed case in 25 years.
It was formally launched on Sunday at three health centers in central Gaza, said Yasser Shaban, director of al-Awda hospital.
“We hope this vaccination campaign for children will be peaceful,” Shaban said, adding that there were “a lot of drones” flying overhead.
Louise Wateridge, a spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, later said about 2,000 children were vaccinated on Sunday.
But he also said he was worried about what would happen next: “If the bombing continues after 2pm it will definitely affect the vaccination campaign… The only way out is a ceasefire.”
Rescue workers in the Gaza Strip on Sunday said 10 people were killed in Israeli bombing and air strikes.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
