Hundreds of thousands of Israelis went to the streets of major cities on Sunday evening to request the government to immediately conclude a truce agreement with Hamas, which would release the hostages inactive held in the Gaza Strip. On Sunday morning, another six hostages killed were brought into the country.
According to the organisers of the protests, around 300 000 people gathered in Tel Aviv alone – said the diary “Haarec”. Hundreds of them block the main road moving through the city and burn fires. There have been violent clashes with police in any places. 15 people were detained. Demonstrations are besides held in Jerusalem, Haifa and another cities of Israel.
– Tomorrow the full country will stand still – announced the head of the largest Hisstadrut union headquarters, Arnon Bar-David, announcing a general strike on Monday. – I'm here to guarantee that no 1 is abandoned. Jews don't leave Jews! Our children cannot die in tunnels due to political calculations said Bar-David.
Israelis have been regularly protesting against the government for months, demanding that it conclude a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza War that has been going on for nearly 11 months. Part of the agreement is to exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
During the attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 Hamas and another Palestinian terrorist groups murdered nearly 1,200 people and abducted 251. Of the hostages captured on that day 97 are most likely inactive in Gaza, the Israeli army had previously stated that 33 people from this group were already dead.
Some Israeli public opinion has long accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of stalling the negotiations that have been going on for months due to political advantages; besides his coalitions argue the truce. The news of the next six Hamas victims, who according to forensics were shot only a fewer days ago exacerbated the rage and frustration of the protesters," commented Reuter's agency.
– Every day Netanjahu plays Russian roulette with the lives of hostages and won't halt until they all die, these six could be saved, and the remainder of the surviving hostages may inactive survive. – she said at a rally in Tel Aviv Einaw Zangauker whose boy Matan is being held in Gaza.
The demonstrators had already called on Histadrutu to declare a general strike in protest against the government. The strike planned for Monday will include the closure of kindergarten or the main global airport in Tel Aviv. The protest was supported by, among others, a forum bringing together the largest private employers; any local governments, including the Tel Aviv authorities; the association of rectors of Israeli universities or the largest opposition organization is the Future and its leader Jair Lapid. This will be the first general strike in Israel since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
Minister of Finance and leader of the highly nationalist spiritual organization Zionism Bezallel Smotricz applied to lawyer General Gali Baharaw-Miary to issue orders to prevent Monday's strike. The protest is "purely political and without legal basis", and trade unions should not deal with national safety matters," Smotricz argued in his letter to Baharaw-Miara.
Source: PAP / Jerzy Adamiak, Jerusalem
