Israel's largest trade union calls for general strike, ceasefire after 6 hostages killed in Gaza
Hamas accused of killing them in tunnel before troops arrived for rescue attempt
Israel's largest trade union has called a general strike forMonday following the deaths of six hostages in the Gaza Strip. The walkoutis expected toshut down or disrupt major sectors of the economy.
The Histadrut, which represents some 800,000 workers in such areas as health care, transportation and banking, said the strike would begin on Monday morning.
It is aimed at stepping up pressure on the Israeli government to reach a ceasefire aimed at bringing home the remaining hostages held by Hamas in the Palestinian territory.
This would be the first general strike since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 in Israel. A general strike last year during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial judicial overhaul helped lead to a temporary delay in the plan.
Israel confirmed on Sunday that it had recovered the bodies on Saturday, includingthat of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, ayoung IsraeliAmerican man who became one of the most well-known captives as his parents met with world leaders and pressed for his release, including at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last month.
The military said all six had been killed shortly before the arrival of Israeli forces trying to rescue them.
"It's another disappointment in this very long year of disappointments,"Eylon Keshet, an Israeli whose relative was taken by Hamas, told CBC News.
"They should have come back alive, a deal should have been struck a long time ago,"Keshet said. "Every day that passes that our governmentis not doing their best to secure a deal ... more will die, and maybe my [cousin] will as well."
Therecovery of the hostages' bodies sparked more protestsagainst Netanyahu, whom many families of hostages and much of the wider Israeli public blame for failing to bring them back alive in a deal with Hamas to end the 10-month-old war. Negotiations over such a deal have dragged on for months.
Grieving and angry Israelis surged into the streets Sunday night after hearing news of the slain hostages, chanting "Now! Now!" as they demanded Netanyahu reach a ceasefire agreement with Hamas to bring the remaining captives home.
"I'm crying the cry of humanity," said one protester who gave his name as Amos as thousands, some of them weeping, gathered outside Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem.
Militants had seized 23-year-oldGoldberg-Polin, a native of Berkeley, Calif., and resident of Jerusalem,and four of the other hostages at a music festival in southern Israel during Hamas's Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the war. Goldberg-Polinlost part of his left arm to a grenade in the attack.
In April, he was shown on a Hamas-issued video with his left hand missing and clearly speaking under duress sparking new protests in Israel urging the government to do more to secure his and others' freedom.
His family issued a statement early Sunday, hours after the Israeli army said it had located bodies in Gaza.
"With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is devastated to announce the death of their beloved son and brother, Hersh," it said.
"The family thanks you all for your love and support and asks for privacy at this time."
The army identified the other hostages as Ori Danino,Eden Yerushalmi,Almog Sarusi,and Alexander Lobanov,who were also taken from the music festival. The sixth, Carmel Gat, 40, was abducted from the nearby farming community of Be'eri.
The military said the bodies were recovered from a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, abouta kilometrefrom where another hostage, Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, was rescued alive last week.
"According to preliminary information, they were cruelly murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them," Rear AdmiralDaniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesperson, told reporters.
Combat reported in the area
Lt.-Col. Nadav Shoshani, a military spokesperson, said the army believed there were hostages in the area but had no specific intelligence.
He said Israeli forces found the bodies several dozen metresunderground as "ongoing combat" was underway, but that there was no firefight in the tunnel itself.
He said there was no doubt that Hamas had killed them. Hamas has offered to release the hostages in return for an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants.
Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said the hostages would still be alive if Israel had accepted a U.S.- backed ceasefire proposal that Hamas said it had agreed to back in July.
Familiescall for mass protest
A forum of hostage families had called for a massive protest on Sunday, demanding a "complete halt of the country" to push for the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release.
"A deal for the return of the hostages has been on the table for over two months. Were it not for the delays, sabotageand excuses, those whose deaths we learned about this morning would likely still be alive," it said in a statement.
Netanyahu expressed sorrow over the deaths and said Israel would hold Hamas accountable for killing them in "cold blood."
He said the killings prove that the militant group does not want a a ceasefire agreement.
"Whoever murders hostages doesn't want a deal," he said.
Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed and says military pressure is needed to bring home the hostages.
Israel's Channel 12 reported that he got into a shouting match at a security cabinet meeting late Thursday with his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, who accused him of prioritizing control of a strategic corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border a major sticking point in the talks over the lives of the hostages.
The cabinet reportedly voted in favour of remaining in the corridor over the objections of Gallant, who said it would prevent a hostage deal.
U.S. President Joe Bidenissued a statement late Saturday night, saying he was "devastated and outraged" by the news of Goldberg-Polin's death.
"It is as tragic as it is reprehensible," the statement read. "Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the deaths "devastating and enraging."
"Hamas must release all hostages, lay down its arms, and have no future in the governance of Gaza," Trudeau said on X, formerly Twitter."Leaders must reach a deal to bring the rest of the hostages home and end the violence."
Before the latest announcement, Israel said it believed 108 hostages were still being held in Gaza and that about one-third of them were dead.
Hamas-led gunmen killed some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners and abducted about250 hostages on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, Israel's military has levelled Gaza, driving nearly all of its inhabitants from their homes and killing at least 40,000, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israel says it has killed some 17,000 militants.
Parents brought plea to international stage
Goldberg-Polin'sparents became perhaps the most high-profile relatives of hostages on the international stage.
They met with Biden, Pope Francis and others, and addressed the United Nations.
On Aug. 21, they addressed a hushed hall at the Democratic National Convention, where the crowd chanted: "Bring them home."
Goldberg-Polin'sparents were among a number of hostages' families who protested in Kibbutz Nirim, near the border with Gaza, on Thursday to demand to secure their release.
"Hersh, it's dada," yelled Jon Polin.
"What you need to know, and all 107 of you need to know, is not only are the families here today and ninemillion people of this country, but people all over the world are fighting for you," he said.
His mother, Rachel Goldberg, raised her hand to the sky as she spoke into the microphone: "We love you. Stay strong. Survive."
With files from CBC News and Reuters
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