‘More important than anything’ – unions call for general strike over ceasefire deadlock

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Israel’s largest and most influential trade unions have called for a general strike to pressure the government into agreeing a ceasefire.

According to Israeli media reports, Arnon Bar-David, president of the Israel Federation of Labor, announced on Sunday that Israel will hold a general strike on Monday to protest the failure to secure the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

According to the Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel, Bar-David emphasize The urgency of reaching an agreement and said that “the agreement is more important than anything else.”

Earlier, the Israeli army announced that the bodies of six Israeli prisoners were found in a tunnel in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

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“The strike, which will begin at 6 a.m., is currently planned to last a day, with Bar-David saying a decision after Monday will be made later,” the report said.

“Jews are being killed in the Gaza tunnels. This is unacceptable and must stop,” Bar-David reportedly declared at a press conference after meeting with the Hostage and Missing Families Forum in Tel Aviv.

Additionally, after discussions with multiple security officials, Bar-David said he believed the deal to release the hostages had stalled due to “political considerations” and lamented that political polarization was dividing the country.

“We are no longer a people, we are on opposite sides of the camp, and we need to rebuild the State of Israel,” he reportedly said.

Earlier in the day, the forum urged the public to take part in mass demonstrations demanding a complete shutdown of the state and called on the powerful trade union federation to organise a massive strike on Monday.

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The call was backed by the Israel Business Forum, which represents most private sector workers at Israel’s 200 largest companies, and Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid.

Massive protests

Thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Saturday to demand that the Israeli government reach a prisoner swap agreement with the Gaza resistance movement.

According to Israeli media reports, large-scale demonstrations took place in the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa.

Protesters in Tel Aviv blocked part of the Ayalon highway in the city center, Israel Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) said.

Meanwhile, protesters in Haifa took to the streets of Karkul Junction and Rehovot, Israeli daily Yediot Al-Ahmad reported.

“Dozens of demonstrators blocked a main road at Karkul intersection, while others blocked an intersection in Rehovot,” the newspaper said.

According to Al-Mayadeen, on August 26, protesters set up several tents along Rothschild Street for demonstrations.

(Palestine Chronicle)