It is Israel’s largest trade union Histadrut that has called for a general strike. They have around 800,000 members in many different parts of the Israeli economy, from healthcare and transport to the banking sector.
A number of municipal services are closed in Tel Aviv and other cities. Among them, nurseries, banks and public offices are closed. Public transport is also affected by the strike.
According to the newspaper The Times of Israel, it is expected that protesters will block several major roads during the day.
The umbrella organization MAI, which represents the companies that account for around 90 percent of Israel’s industrial production, has also joined the strike.
Air traffic escaped
Several cities and communities are participating in the general strike, while others have refused because of their support for the right-wing religious government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Jerusalem is among the cities that do not participate. Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had previously urged the country’s attorney general to ask the courts to block Monday’s strike, which he claimed was politically motivated.
It was reported that the Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion airport would be paralyzed by the strike between 8 am and 10 am local time on Monday morning, but air traffic there was largely normal.
The call by the Histadrut to cripple the Israeli economy follows a night of huge demonstrations in a number of Israeli cities after six hostages were found dead in Rafah, Gaza.
Large demonstrations
Tens of thousands of angry and grieving protesters filled the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv overnight Monday demanding that the Israeli government enter into a ceasefire agreement with Hamas to free the remaining hostages.
Many believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are to blame for the fact that Israel has not yet reached an agreement with Hamas, and that the government is more concerned with retaining government power than saving the hostages’ lives.
Of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7 attack on Israel, 97 remain in captivity in Gaza, including 33 that the Israeli army (IDF) has said are dead.
The six hostages found dead in a tunnel shaft under Rafah on Saturday were shot at point-blank range just days before they were found, according to Israel’s Health Ministry, citing autopsy reports.
The six, two women and four men, were all abducted by Hamas during the October 7 attack last year.
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2024-09-03 14:22:58
