“We must stop this abandonment of hostages […] Tomorrow at 6 o’clock [5 heures heure française, ndlr], The entire Israeli economy will be on general strike.” The call was launched this Sunday, September 1st, by Arnon Bar-David, the head of the Histadrut, Israel’s powerful trade union center. The aim: to force the government to reach an agreement for the release of the hundred hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. “At 8 o’clock [7 heures heure française], The airport will be closed, takeoffs and landings will cease.”adds a statement from the Histadrut. Earlier in the day, the announcement by the Israeli army of the discovery of the bodies of six new hostages who died in a tunnel in the Gaza Strip caused shock and anger in Israel. None of these hostages had so far been declared dead. The autopsy carried out this Sunday morning on the bodies of the hostages found in Gaza revealed that the six hostages brought back dead to Israel had been killed “at close range” “between Thursday and Friday morning”, the Israeli Ministry of Health announced.
The unprecedented attack carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. During this attack, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip, 251 people were kidnapped in Israel and taken to the Palestinian territory. 97 are still being held in Gaza, including 33 declared dead by the army. Israeli retaliation for the Hamas attack has left at least 40,738 dead in the Gaza Strip since October 7, according to the Hamas government’s Health Ministry.
“It’s been eleven months what [les] hostages are neglected», hammers the Hostage Families Forum. The collective also intends to participate in the pressure put on the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. It calls on Israelis to demonstrate again this Sunday evening, in Tel Aviv, to demand “a total blockade of the country and an agreement for the release of the hostages”.
The Lev cinema chain announced this Sunday that it would be closing its theatres “support” to the families of the hostages. Several restaurant chains also said they would close their doors on Sunday evening. “We have to reach an agreement, that’s the most important thing”insists the head of the Histadrut, Arnon Bar-David. He judges “unacceptable” that the situation “is not progressing because of political considerations.”
“Bring back the hostages still in the hands of Hamas”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid also called on the Histadrut, “municipalities and employers” to the “general strike” on his Facebook page. “They were alive […]Netanyahu and his death cabinet have decided not to save them. There are still hostages alive, we can still get an agreement.”he said. The political point here is a reference to a vote by the Prime Minister’s cabinet on Thursday, which endorsed an Israeli condition set as a prerequisite for an agreement, which Hamas and Egypt reject en bloc.
This position is also reflected within the Israeli government itself. Thus, the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, is demanding this Sunday: “an immediate cabinet meeting to reverse this decision” taken by the cabinet last Thursday. “It is too late for the hostages who were killed in cold blood, we must bring back the hostages who are still in the hands of Hamas.”
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