"Political dispute"

Israel: General strike for hostage deal has begun

A major protest strike against the government began in Israel on Monday.(Bild: AP/Ariel Schalit)

Following the discovery of the bodies of six Hamas hostages in the Gaza Strip, a nationwide protest strike against the government began in Israel on Monday. A labor court ordered its end in the early afternoon. The reason given was that it was a "political strike".

Judge Hadas Jahalom ordered the trade unions to end the strike at 2.30 pm local time (13.30 CEST). According to the Israeli authorities, she has issued an injunction to this effect.

Mass protest on Sunday evening
On Sunday evening, hundreds of thousands (see video above) had already demanded an immediate agreement with the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas in the largest mass protests since the beginning of the Gaza war almost eleven months ago. 280,000 protesters blocked the streets in Tel Aviv demanding a ceasefire with Hamas to save the remaining hostages.

A major protest strike against the government began in Israel on Monday.(Bild: AP/Ariel Schalit)

The trade union umbrella organization announced on Sunday that it wanted to bring the country to a standstill for a day. The aim is to increase the pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu to agree to a deal for the release of the remaining hostages.

Numerous cities and municipalities joined the protest, while others refused to do so because they are closer to Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government.

Airport operations disrupted in Tel Aviv 
In many cities, kindergartens, banks and government offices, among others, remained closed. Public transport was also affected. Air traffic at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv was reportedly disrupted and delayed, although the authorities had announced that everything would go according to plan.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wanted to prevent the general strike by means of a temporary injunction on the grounds that it was a "political strike". The trade union umbrella organization Histadrut then informed the labour court that the strike would be shortened.

Strike twelve hours shorter than planned
It will now end at 6 p.m. local time (5 p.m. CEST), twelve hours earlier than planned, it said. Smotrich - like the far-right police minister Itamar Ben Gvir - rejects concessions to the terrorist militia Hamas and has repeatedly threatened Prime Minister Netanyahu with the collapse of the government.

Six dead hostages discovered in tunnel
The Israeli army announced on Sunday morning that six bodies of Hamas hostages had been discovered shortly beforehand in an underground tunnel in the south of the Gaza Strip. According to media reports, the Israeli health ministry said that the hostages had been shot at close range some 48 to 72 hours before the autopsy on the bodies.

A spokesman for the militant Palestinian organization Hamas, however, said that the hostages had been killed by Israeli bombardment.