Relatives and demonstrators have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of not doing enough to bring the hostages back alive, and during mass rallies on Sunday called for a truce deal to help free dozens who remain captive.
The military said on Sunday the bodies of six hostages, who were all captured alive during Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war, had been recovered from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip, prompting outpourings of grief and fury.
The Israeli health ministry said post-mortem examinations showed the six had been “murdered... with several close-range gunshots” shortly before they were found by troops.
The Histadrut trade union called a nationwide strike beginning at 6:00 am (0300 GMT) “for the return” of the remaining 97 hostages, including 33 the military says are dead.
Several major cities across Israel joined the strike, closing schools and municipal services for several hours. Ben Gurion international airport near Tel Aviv was operating “as usual,” a spokeswoman told AFP, but takeoffs were halted for two hours.
The strike followed a day of mass protests on Sunday that saw tens of thousands on the streets of Tel Aviv and elsewhere, part of a series of anti-government rallies during the war. On Monday, protesters again blocked roads in Tel Aviv.
Histadrut chief Arnon Bar-David said he wanted to “stop the abandonment of the hostages,” adding that “only our intervention can shake those who need to be shaken,” an apparent reference to top Israeli decision-makers who have opposed a truce or stalled in months of negotiations.
Out of 251 hostages seized during the October 7 attack, only eight have been rescued alive by Israeli forces but scores were released during a one-week truce in November — the only one so far.
Mediation efforts led by the United States, Qatar and Egypt since then have repeatedly stalled.
US President Joe Biden is due to convene a meeting with his negotiating team later on Monday to “discuss efforts to drive toward a deal that secures the release of the remaining hostages” following “the murder” in captivity of the six including US-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the White House said.
Israel named the five others as Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino and Russian-Israeli Alexander Lobanov.
On Sunday, Biden said he was “still optimistic” a deal could be reached.
Rising death tolls
Yair Keshet, uncle of hostage Yarden Bibas, said during Sunday’s protest in Tel Aviv that the government needed to “stop everything and to make a deal,” which campaigners say is the best option to ensure the return of the remaining captives.
On the ground in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, civil defense rescuers said an Israeli strike on Sunday killed 11 people at a school where Israel’s military said a Hamas command center was based.
The fighting continued on Monday, coinciding with the second day of localized “humanitarian pauses” to facilitate a vaccination drive after the first confirmed polio case in 25 years.
An AFP correspondent reported some air strikes overnight, and the civil defense agency said artillery shelling and gunfire rocked Gaza City, where two people were killed when a missile hit a residential block.
Louise Wateridge, spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said 87,000 children received a first dose of the polio vaccine on Sunday in central Gaza.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini called the inoculation campaign a “race against time to reach just over 600,000 children” in the war-torn territory of 2.4 million people.
“For this to work, parties to the conflict must respect the temporary area pauses,” he said.
The Israeli military campaign against Hamas has so far killed at least 40,738 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.
The October 7 attack that triggered it resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians and including hostages killed in captivity, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Escalating violence
The war has sent regional tensions soaring, with violence surging in the occupied West Bank, which is separated from Gaza by Israeli territory.
At least 24 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched simultaneous raids on Wednesday across the northern West Bank. Militant groups have claimed 14 of the dead as members.
A shooting Sunday in the southern West Bank killed three Israeli police officers, authorities have said. The military said the suspected assailant was “eliminated” following a manhunt.
Middle Eastern and Western governments as well as UN officials have called on Israel to end the large-scale operations in the Palestinian territory, which it has occupied since 1967.
In the city of Jenin, the streets were largely deserted and most shops were closed on Monday, after loud explosions and clashes were heard during the night.
Israeli bulldozers in the Jenin city center and other areas have caused damage to infrastructure including water systems, officials have said.
“No one dares to go out,” said Jenin resident Adel Marai Egbaria.
US President Joe Biden on Monday said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not doing enough to secure a deal for the release of hostages taken by Palestinian armed group Hamas.
Asked by reporters at the White House — where Biden was arriving for a meeting with US negotiators — if he thought the Israeli leader was doing enough on the issue, the president responded: “No.”
Biden’s meeting with the negotiators on the hostage-release deal comes after the deaths on Saturday of six captives in Gaza, including an American citizen.
The president said negotiators were “very close” to a final proposal to be presented to Israel and Hamas.
Biden’s schedule was revised to make time for the White House meeting, which was also to be attended by Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running to succeed him in November’s presidential election.
A White House statement said he and Harris would meet “with the US hostage deal negotiating team following the murder of American citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages by Hamas on Saturday, and discuss efforts to drive toward a deal that secures the release of the remaining hostages.”
The United States, along with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar, has spent months pushing for a hostage-prisoner exchange and ceasefire in the war in Gaza.
Militants seized 251 hostages during the October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war, 97 of whom remain in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Scores of hostages were released during a one-week truce in November.
A Israeli court on Monday ordered a halt to a strike called by the country’s largest union aimed at ramping up pressure on Netanyahu’s government to secure the release of the remaining captives.
Hostage relatives and advocates have accused Netanyahu’s administration of not doing enough to bring the captives back alive, and have called for an immediate ceasefire.
In addition to the taking of hostages, Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
More than 40,786 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip since the war began, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Most of the dead are women and children according to UN human rights office.
Asked by reporters at the White House — where Biden was arriving for a meeting with US negotiators — if he thought the Israeli leader was doing enough on the issue, the president responded: “No.”
Biden’s meeting with the negotiators on the hostage-release deal comes after the deaths on Saturday of six captives in Gaza, including an American citizen.
The president said negotiators were “very close” to a final proposal to be presented to Israel and Hamas.
Biden’s schedule was revised to make time for the White House meeting, which was also to be attended by Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running to succeed him in November’s presidential election.
A White House statement said he and Harris would meet “with the US hostage deal negotiating team following the murder of American citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages by Hamas on Saturday, and discuss efforts to drive toward a deal that secures the release of the remaining hostages.”
The United States, along with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar, has spent months pushing for a hostage-prisoner exchange and ceasefire in the war in Gaza.
Militants seized 251 hostages during the October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war, 97 of whom remain in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Scores of hostages were released during a one-week truce in November.
A Israeli court on Monday ordered a halt to a strike called by the country’s largest union aimed at ramping up pressure on Netanyahu’s government to secure the release of the remaining captives.
Hostage relatives and advocates have accused Netanyahu’s administration of not doing enough to bring the captives back alive, and have called for an immediate ceasefire.
In addition to the taking of hostages, Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
More than 40,786 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip since the war began, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Most of the dead are women and children according to UN human rights office.
