Israel’s largest labor union plans massive strike after six hostages’ bodies recovered

Israel’s largest labor union is planning a massive strike for Monday to demand a cease-fire deal between the nation and Hamas after six Israeli hostages were found dead in a Hamas tunnel. 

“We are getting body bags instead of a deal,” Histadrut Labor Federation chief Arnon Bar-David said Sunday to reporters, according to Reuters.  

“We must reach a deal. A deal is more important than anything else,” he said.

The Histadrut Labor Federation is Israel’s main labor union that represents hundreds of thousands of workers. Bar-David’s call for a one-day strike was supported by manufacturers and tech entrepreneurs in the country, according to Reuters.

AMERICAN HOSTAGE HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN, 5 OTHERS ‘BRUTALLY MURDERED’ BY HAMAS RIGHT BEFORE RESCUE: IDF

“Without the return of the hostages, we will not be able to end the war, we will not be able to rehabilitate ourselves as a society, and we will not be able to begin to rehabilitate the Israeli economy,” Israel’s Manufacturers’ Association leader Ron Tomer said in support of Bar-David’s call for a strike. 

“The government must ensure that it does everything for the return of the hostages as soon as possible, even under the limitations of a limited cease-fire, and I call on all businesses in Israel to act to make it happen,” he added.

ISRAEL RECOVERS 6 DEAD HOSTAGES IN ‘COMPLEX RESCUE OPERATION,’ SAYS BODIES HELD UNDER HUMANITARIAN AREA

Israeli municipalities such as Tel Aviv, Kfar Saba, and Givatayim agreed to join the strike on Monday, the New York Post reported. 

Protesters rally outside the Defence Ministry against the government and to show support for the hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, September 1, 2024. Reuters/Florion Goga (Reuters)

Hamas terrorists killed six hostages Saturday as Israel Defense Forces launched a rescue operation in the tunnels below Gaza’s Rafah. Among the bodies recovered was Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who had been held by the Hamas terrorists since Oct. 7, when war first broke out between Hamas and Israel. 

Those confirmed dead include: Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Alex Lobanov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Almog Sarusi, 27.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin (Israel’s Minister of Defense)

“According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,” IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement.

NETANYAHU MOURNS DEATHS OF SIX HOSTAGES RECOVERED IN GAZA, VOWS TO ‘SETTLE ACCOUNTS’ WITH HAMAS

War has been raging in the Middle East since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a series of attacks on Israel, sparking Israel to declare war soon afterward. An estimated 257 Israeli hostages were trapped in Gaza when the war first began, and 101 hostages are still in Gaza. Of the 101 remaining hostages, 66 are believed to be alive, four of whom are American citizens. 

Protesters rally outside the Defence Ministry against the government and to show support for the hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, September 1, 2024. Reuters/Florion Goga (REUTERS)

Bar-David said that a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas had failed due to “political considerations,” in a jab at Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

After the hostages’ bodies were recovered, Netanyahu said in a statement that he was “shocked to the core” by the murders.

DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS ISRAEL MUST ‘WIDEN THE GOALS’ OF WAR TO RETURN RESIDENTS TO THE NORTH

“He who murders abductees – does not want a deal. We are in a difficult day. The heart of the entire nation was torn,” Netanyahu said. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress in the chamber of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol on July 24, 2024, in Washington, D.C.  (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

“Along with all the citizens of Israel, I was shocked to the core by the terrible cold-blooded murder of six of our abductees.”

Protesters on Sunday flooded the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and outside Netayhu’s residence to demand a cease-fire, Reuters reported. 

People run as protesters rally outside the Defence Ministry against the government and to show support for the hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, September 1, 2024. Reuters/Florion Goga (Reuters)

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The strike will begin at 6 a.m. and will include disruptions such as causing Israel’s main airport, the Ben Gurion Airport, to shut down. 

Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.