Nationwide strike begins in Israel as anger over failure to save Gaza hostages erupts in night of protest

Binyamin Netanyahu is under pressure after it emerges that the bodies of six hostages recovered by the Israeli military may have been killed day or two before they were found

Protesters march in support of a Gaza ceasefire deal that would bring hostages home (Reuters)

A nationwide strike has started in Israel with public anger over the government’s failure to agree a Gaza ceasefire deal that would secure the release of hostages held by Hamas having erupted into mass protest.

Tensions spiked after the bodies of six hostages were recovered by soldiers on Saturday, causing national outrage.

The Israeli military said that the bodies were recovered from a tunnel beneath the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where they were apparently killed not long only a day or two before troops reached them.

The bodies of Carmel Gat, 40, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Alexander Lobanov, 33, Almog Sarusi, 27, and Ori Danino, 25, have been returned to Israel, military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. All six were captured by Hamas during the 7 October attack inside Israel – in which around 1,200 people were killed and another 250 taken hostage – that ignited the Gaza war.

The discovery sparked calls for mass protests by families of the captives who said their loved ones could have been returned alive if a ceasefire deal had been agreed. More than one hundred people took to the streets across Israel on Sunday.

The call for a one-day strike on Monday was issued by Israel's biggest labour union, Histadrut, whose leader, Arnon Bar-David, said the country was getting "body bags instead of a deal". It is not clear yet how widely the stoppage will be observed, but it is a sign of the rising anger.

Israel said the six hostages were killed shortly before its forces reached them (The Hostages Families Forum/AP) (AP)

Calling on prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take responsibility and explain what was holding up a truce, the Hostage Families Forum, said: “The delay in signing the deal has led to their deaths and those of many other hostages.”

In Tel Aviv, the relatives of hostages marched with coffins to symbolise the toll.

“We really think that the government is making these decisions for its own conservation and not for the lives of the hostages, and we need to tell them, ‘Stop!”’ said Shlomit Hacohen, a Tel Aviv resident.

Three of the six hostages found dead – including Israeli-American Goldberg-Polin, Yerushalmi and Gat – were reportedly scheduled to be released in the first phase of a ceasefire proposal discussed in July, and this only added to the sense of fury and frustration among the protesters.

“Nothing is worse than knowing that they could have been saved,” said Dana Loutaly. “Sometimes it takes something so awful to shake people up and get them out into the streets.”

Protesters feed a fire during an anti-government rally calling for the release of Israeli hostages from Gaza (AFP via Getty Images)

US president Joe Biden spoke with Goldberg-Polin’s parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, who appeared at the Democratic National Convention last month, to offer condolences, a White House official said.

Prime minister Keir Starmer said he was “completely shocked” by the deaths.

The call for a one-day general strike was backed by Israel’s main manufacturers and entrepreneurs in the high-tech sector.

“We must reach a deal [on the return of the surviving hostages]. A deal is more important than anything else,” Histadrut leader Mr Bar-David told a press conference. “We are getting body bags instead of a deal.”

Demonstrators stand near six mock coffins (EPA)

Mr Netanyahu, who faces growing calls to end nearly 11 months of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza with a deal that includes a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages, said Israel would not rest until it caught those responsible.

“Whoever murders hostages – does not want a deal,” he said.

The deaths of the six leaves 101 Israeli and foreign captives still in Gaza, but around a third of these are believed to be dead.

The war has created a major humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as well as fuelling tensions across the region and in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli officials said on Sunday that three Israeli police officers had been killed when their vehicle came under fire near the city of Hebron.

Hundreds of Israeli troops have been carrying out raids across the West Bank since Wednesday in one of their largest actions in the area in months, which Israel says is aimed at rooting out Hamas and other militant groups.