Protesters go on strike in Israel demanding Gaza ceasefire and hostage releases
Israel
demanding their government make a deal to secure the release of hostages held in
Gaza
escalated their campaign on Sunday, staging a strike that disrupted traffic and closed businesses.
The action, organised by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, marked a fresh push, weeks after militant groups released videos of hostages and Israel signalled plans for a new Gaza offensive.
Protesters fear further fighting could endanger the 50 hostages believed to remain in Gaza, only about 20 of whom are thought to be alive.
They chanted, 'We don't win a war over the bodies of hostages' and demanded a deal.
Protesters fear further fighting could endanger the 50 hostages believed to remain in Gaza, only about 20 of whom are thought to be alive. Photograph: Mahmoud Illean/AP
'Today, we stop everything to save and bring back the hostages and soldiers. Today, we stop everything to remember the supreme value of the sanctity of life,' said Anat Angrest, mother of hostage Matan Angrest.
'Today, we stop everything to join hands – right, left, centre and everything in between.'
Although Israel's largest labour union, Histadrut, did not join Sunday's action, strikes of this magnitude are relatively rare in the country. Many businesses and municipalities decided independently to strike.
Still, an end to the conflict does not appear near. Prime minister
Binyamin Netanyahu
has demanded the immediate release of the hostages but is balancing competing pressures, haunted by the potential for mutiny within his coalition.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Far-right members of his cabinet insist they will not support any deal that allows
Hamas
to retain power. The last time Israel agreed to a ceasefire that released hostages, they threatened to topple Mr Netanyahu's government.
Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday called the stoppage 'a bad and harmful campaign that plays into Hamas' hands, buries the hostages in the tunnels and attempts to get Israel to surrender to its enemies and jeopardise its security and future'.
Meanwhile, Israeli air strikes hit
Yemen's
capital on Sunday, escalating attacks on Iran-backed
Houthis
, who since the war began have fired missiles at Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea.
The
Israel Defense Forces
and a Houthi-run television station in Yemen announced the strikes. Al-Masirah Television said they targeted a power plant in the southern district of Sanhan, sparking a fire and knocking it out of service.
Israel's military said Sunday's strikes targeted energy infrastructure it claimed was being used by the Houthis, and were launched in response to missiles and drones aimed at Israel.
While some projectiles have breached its missile defences – notably during its war with Iran in June – Israel has intercepted the vast majority of missiles launched from Yemen.
While demonstrators in Israel demanded a ceasefire, Israel began preparing for an invasion of Gaza City and other populated parts of the besieged strip, aimed at destroying Hamas.
The military body that co-ordinates its humanitarian aid to Gaza said on Sunday that the supply of tents to the territory would resume.
Israeli Arabs hold placards and stand behind boxes depicting children's coffins on Saturday as they protest in the city of Lod near Tel Aviv. Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images
Cogat said it would allow the
United Nations
(UN) to resume importing tents and shelter equipment into Gaza ahead of plans to forcibly evacuate people from combat zones 'for their protection'.
Tents and the majority of assistance has been blocked from entering Gaza since Israel imposed a total blockade in March after a ceasefire collapsed.
Deliveries have since partially resumed, though aid organisations say the flow is far below what is needed. Some have accused Israel of 'weaponising aid' through blockades and rules they say turn humanitarian assistance into a tool of its political and military goals.
Israel's air and ground war has already killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza and displaced most of the population. The UN is warning that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began.
The Hamas-led attack of October 7th, 2023 in Israel killed around 1,200 people. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed 61,897 people in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry, which does not specify how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. – AP
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