Protest strike in Israel – airport operations largely normal

Israel goes on strike to force an agreement with Hamas to release the remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip. But not all cities and organizations participate.

A major protest strike has begun in Israel after the bodies of six hostages were found in the Gaza Strip. Many cities and municipalities joined the protest, others refused to do so because they were closer to the right-wing religious government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Contrary to what was announced, air traffic at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv was largely normal.

The umbrella organization of the trade unions announced on Sunday that they wanted to bring the country to a standstill for a day. The aim is to increase the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu so that he agrees to a deal to release the remaining hostages. In many cities, kindergartens, banks and authorities, among other things, remained closed. Public transport was also affected. Already on Sunday, hundreds of thousands were demanding an immediate agreement with the Islamic terrorist organization Hamas in the biggest mass protests since the start of the Gaza war almost eleven months ago.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wanted to stop the general strike with an injunction on the grounds that it was a “political strike.” Smotrich, like the extreme right-wing Police Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, refuses concessions to Hamas and has repeatedly threatened Prime Minister Netanyahu with the collapse of the government.

The Israeli army announced on Sunday morning that the bodies of six hostages had recently been discovered in an underground tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip. Israel’s Ministry of Health said, according to media reports, that the hostages were shot at close range about 48 to 72 hours before the bodies were autopsied. A spokesman for the terrorist organization Hamas said, however, that the hostages died as a result of Israeli bombardment.