Israel’s largest trade union to hold general strike Monday

JERUSALEM, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) — Israel’s largest trade union federation on Sunday called for a general strike on Monday to protest what it described as the government’s “abandonment” of hostages in the Gaza Strip and the stalling of negotiations for a ceasefire deal.
The strike is set to begin on Monday at 6:00 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) across all major workplaces. At 8:00 a.m. (0500 GMT), the staff of Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel’s main air transport hub, will join the strike.
“I have spoken with many security and political officials, and the deal talks are not progressing due to political considerations,” Arnon Bar-David, secretary-general of the Histadrut, Israel’s national labor union, said in a broadcast statement.
“We must stop the abandonment of the hostages, the displaced, and the collapsing economy,” he added.
Bar-David called on workers to join nationwide rallies to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to sign a ceasefire deal with Hamas that would secure the release of the hostages.
Earlier Sunday, major cinemas, theaters, museums, universities, and other large and small businesses announced they would go on strike starting Sunday evening.
Dozens of municipalities, including the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel’s cultural and financial capital, also announced they would join the strike on Monday.
At least 16 of the country’s largest law firms said they would provide pro bono legal aid to protesters if they were arrested or harmed by the police.
The protest was sparked by the recovery of six bodies of hostages from Gaza. According to a statement from the army, they were killed in a tunnel by Hamas militants “shortly” before soldiers reached them, while Hamas said these hostages “were killed by Israeli shelling.”
The bodies’ retrieval was met with widespread anger and frustration over the stalled talks, which have been on-off for months with the mediation efforts led by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt.
The army stated that all six were captured alive on Oct. 7, 2023, during Hamas’ surprise attack on southern Israeli communities, which killed approximately 1,200 people and led to the capture of about 250 others. A total of 101 hostages are still being held in Gaza, with around half believed to be deceased. ■