Israeli opposition chief backs calls for strike in solidarity with Gaza hostages
'Strike on Sunday,' Lapid posted on X, saying even supporters of the current government should take part and insisting it was not party political.
Sunday is the first day of the working week in Israel.
'Strike out of solidarity. Strike because the families have asked, and that's reason enough. Strike because no one has a monopoly on emotion, on mutual responsibility, on Jewish values.'
Lapid's post followed a call on Sunday by around 20 parents of hostages still held by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip for a strike.
On Monday, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main representative group for relatives, backed the idea.
The group has been pressing the leaders of Israel's main trade union federation, Histadrut, to join in but it decided against doing so.
Instead, it said it would support 'workers' solidarity demonstrations', the Forum said.
'Allow a citizens' strike, from the grassroots to the top. Allow everyone to take a day off on Sunday to follow the dictates of their conscience,' the Forum added in a statement.
'The moment has come to act, to take to the streets,' it said, adding '675 days of captivity and war must end.'
The group again accused the government of sacrificing the remaining hostages 'on the altar of an endless, aimless war.'
Last week, Israel's security cabinet approved plans to expand the war into the remaining parts of Gaza not yet controlled by the military, sparking fears that more hostages might die as a result.
Of the 251 hostages taken captive by Palestinian militants during Hamas's October 2023 attack on southern Israel, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
In early August, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad released videos showing two hostages in emaciated conditions.
Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 61,499 people, the majority civilians, according to the figures from the health ministry considered reliable by the United Nations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
10 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Gaza civil defense says Israeli attacks kill 18
Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 18 Palestinians on Sunday, including seven people shot dead while waiting to collect food aid. Civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told AFP that seven people were killed in an Israeli drone strike that hit a hospital courtyard in Gaza City, in the territory's north. Witnesses said the victims were members of a Hamas unit, which a source from the Palestinian militant group described as responsible for distributing aid and 'fighting thieves.' There was no comment from the Israeli military, which is preparing a broader offensive in Gaza City and has sent ground forces to the city's Zeitun neighborhood in recent days. After more than 22 months of war, UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in Gaza, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in and convoys have been repeatedly looted. Witnesses on Sunday reported Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into the morning. Bassal said four people were killed in a strike that hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the southern area of Khan Younis. The civil defense spokesman said Israel continues its intense bombardment of Gaza City's Zeitun, where troops have carried out a ground operation for the past week. He said there were many casualties, but civil defence crews were facing 'enormous difficulties reaching those trapped under the rubble' due to the ongoing violence and lack of equipment. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swaths of the Palestinian territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency or the Israeli military. Israel on Saturday hinted at an approaching call to push civilians from Gaza City ahead of the new offensive demanded by the security cabinet. A defense ministry statement said that 'as part of the preparations to move the population from combat zones to the southern Gaza Strip for their protection, the supply of tents and shelter equipment to Gaza will resume.' Hamas later slammed the move, saying the announcement was part of a 'brutal assault to occupy Gaza City.' On the ground on Sunday, Bassal said six people were killed by Israeli gunfire near an aid distribution point in the south. Another person was killed near an aid site in central Gaza, Bassal added, with a nearby hospital saying the body had been taken there. The war was triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's offensive has killed more than 61,897 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable.
Al Arabiya
40 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Hamas rejects Israel's Gaza relocation plan
Hamas said on Sunday that Israel's planned Gaza relocation plan by Israel constitutes a 'new wave of genocide and displacement' for hundreds of thousands of residents in the area.
Arab News
40 minutes ago
- Arab News
Hamas rejects Israel's Gaza relocation plan
CAIRO: Hamas said on Sunday that Israel's Gaza relocation plan constitutes a 'new wave of genocide and displacement' for hundreds of thousands of residents in the area. The group said the planned deployment of tents and other shelter equipment by Israel in southern Gaza Strip was a 'blatant deception.'
