Late Sunday night, six more Israeli hostages were found dead in Gaza. This made Israelis angry and sad, so they took to the streets. Protesters yelled, “Now! Now!” They wanted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the conflict with Hamas so that the prisoners could be brought back home.
A general strike is what unions want.
The Histadrut, Israel’s largest trade union, called for a full shutdown on Monday to put more pressure on the government. This is the first major attack since the war began on October 7. Many important places, like banks, hospitals, and the country’s main airport, are likely to close down or be badly harmed.
There are huge riots all over Israel.
It was thought that tens of thousands of Israelis would protest on Sunday night. Many people blame Netanyahu for not being able to free the prisoners. They believe he had the power to end the war with Hamas that had been going on for almost 11 months.
The Israeli military has said that it will be hard to free the prisoners and that the only safe way to get them back is to make a deal.
Around Amos, thousands of people were protesting outside of Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem. He told them, “I’m crying the cry of humanity.”
Body parts found in the Gaza tunnel
The Israeli military said that the six hostages were killed just before their troops got there. Netanyahu blamed Hamas for the deaths, saying they were carried out with “cold blood.” “Whoever kills hostages doesn’t want a deal,” he said, blaming the terrorist group for stopping talks.
Hamas’ attack on October 7 killed many people. One of them was 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who lost part of his left arm. Ori Danino, 25, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Almog Sarusi, 27, Alexander Lobanov, 33, and Carmel Gat, 40, were given names by the army. In Rafah, a city in the southern part of Gaza, their bodies were found in a cave.
Hamas says that Israel is to blame for the hostages’ deaths.
Hamas has offered to free the hostages, but only if the war ends, Israeli troops leave, and many Palestinian prisoners are freed..
A top Hamas official, Izzat al-Rishq, said that the inmates would still be alive if Israel had agreed to a U.S.-backed peace plan in July.
Attacks on Netanyahu’s plan
Netanyahu is putting his own wants ahead of those of the hostages, say those who are against Israel. Some people believe that the mistakes his government made during the October 7 attacks will be looked into after the war is over. This might cause his government to fall and early polls to happen.
News sources say that Netanyahu and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, got into an angry argument at a security cabinet meeting on Thursday over whether to put the prisoners’ lives ahead of controlling a key passageway along the border between Egypt and Gaza. Once the bodies were found, Gallant asked the cabinet to change its mind and told the families of the prisoners who died he was sorry.
Call for a national stop.
People who are worried about the hostages have asked for a “complete halt of the country” to help calm things down and free the hostages. What the protests have done to Netanyahu’s government for over two months
Most politicians still back Netanyahu’s government, even though there have been large-scale protests. He had made up his mind about some things, but public pressure has made him change his mind. After large-scale protests last year, he had to call off the firing of his defense minister. Also, a general strike pushed back his controversial update to the courts.
Campaign to Free High-Profile Hostages
Goodman and GoldbergPolitin’s parents have been at the center of the drive to free the prisoners. They are Americans who went to Israel as kids and left as adults. They asked President Joe Biden, Pope Francis, and other world leaders to free everyone who was being held. Biden talked about his sadness and anger and promised that Hamas leaders would be held responsible for what they did. He also promised to keep working to free the other prisoners.
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