Israel’s largest labor union announces strike to pressure government for hostage deal and cease-fire 

Israel’s largest trade union, the Histadrut, called for a general strike to take place Monday as scores of Israelis took to the streets demanding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a cease-fire deal after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza.

Histadrut chief Arnon Bar-David called for the strike during a Sunday press conference, during which he said, “We must reach a deal. A deal is more important than anything else,” Reuters reported.

“We are getting body bags instead of a deal,” he said.

Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s main air transport hub, will be closed from 8 a.m. local time Monday, he said, per the news service. Municipal services in Tel Aviv will also be closed for part of Monday.

The announcement came hours after Israel’s military confirmed it recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a native of Berkeley, Calif. The Israeli military said Sunday the six hostages were killed by Hamas shortly before forces reached them in an underground tunnel in Rafah.

The recovery of the bodies quickly sparked further protests, calling on Netanyahu to reach a cease-fire deal with Hamas that would secure the release of the remaining hostages.

Protests unfolded Sunday, with many shouting” “Now! Now!” The Associated Press reported.

The war has raged on for nearly 11 months since Hamas launched a surprise incursion in southern Israel on Oct. 7, prompting Israel to launch a counteroffensive in Gaza, which has been under Hamas control since 2007.

Netanyahu has remained steadfast in continuing the war until Hamas is destroyed and argues military pressure is needed to bring the hostages home.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign to eliminate the threat of Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians since early October and driven hundreds of thousands of civilians from their homes in Gaza, per local and international health officials.

The Manufacturers Association of Israel threw its support behind the strike, alleging the government of neglecting its moral duty.

“We are impatiently waiting for the return of the abductees, and we must ensure that we have done everything for them to return. This is our moral duty as a people and as a country. Without the return of the abductees we cannot end the war, we cannot restore ourselves as a society,” association head Ron Tomer wrote in a translated post on the social platform X. “And we will not be able to begin to restore the Israeli economy and economy. We are torn and divided, and this is the place to act to unite Israeli society.”

Netanyahu said Sunday that Hamas will “pay the price” for the deaths of the six hostages.

“We will not rest, nor will be silent. We will pursue you, we will find you, and we will settle accounts with you,” he said, adding, “Whoever murders hostages does not want a deal.”

He claimed Hamas has “refused to hold genuine negotiations,” and stated Israel agreed to a hostage release deal with the full backing from the U.S., while Hamas refused.

Hamas, however, has claimed it has offered to release the hostages in return for a halt in the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the release of some Palestinian prisoners, per the AP.

Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, told the AP the hostages would be alive if Israel accepted a U.S.-backed cease-fire proposal that the militant group claimed to have agreed to back in July.