Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Sunday night, and a general strike has been called for Monday, amid an eruption of public outrage over the government’s handling of the Gaza war following the deaths of six hostages. The discovery of their bodies in Gaza over the weekend threatens to bring deep divisions over the conflict to breaking point, with pressure mounting on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure a ceasefire deal.
An estimated 100,000 people protested in Tel Aviv, blocking the Ayalon highway and lighting a bonfire, while demonstrations also took place in Jerusalem. The first general strike since March 2023 is expected to bring large parts of Israel’s economy to a halt, with government and municipal offices, schools, and many private businesses closing. Ben Gurion International Airport is due to shut down at 8am local time for an unknown period.
The Israel Defense Forces said the bodies of Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Ori Danino were found in tunnels “dozens of metres” underground during fighting in Rafah. They were seized during Hamas’s 7 October attacks. Israel’s health ministry said a forensic examination showed the hostages had been “murdered by Hamas terrorists in a number of shots at close range” 48 to 72 hours before they were found.
Despite the findings, widespread fury has been directed at Netanyahu and his rightwing coalition for failing to agree a US-backed hostages-for-peace deal on the table since late May. Netanyahu blamed Hamas for refusing the deal, saying, “Whoever murders abductees does not want a deal.” However, anonymous briefings by security officials on Sunday blamed Netanyahu’s insistence on retaining strategic territory inside Gaza, particularly the Philadelphi corridor, for the failure to reach a breakthrough.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who voted against Netanyahu’s stance on the corridor, called on the cabinet to reverse its position, stating, “It is too late for the hostages who were murdered in cold blood.” A senior Hamas official, Izzat al-Rishq, blamed the deaths on Israel and the US, while an unnamed Hamas official claimed the hostages were killed by Israeli fire, a claim denied by the IDF and contradicted by the health ministry’s findings.
