Israel joins a nationwide strike over rising tensions toward Gaza hostages.
Reflecting people’s anger, people across Israel went on a one-day strike and protested against the hawkish Netanyahu government to obtain a ceasefire with Hamas and free the hostages detained in Gaza. This was by far the biggest push for the government of Israel to sue the case diplomatically.
Government employees such as civil servants participated in the boycott either by going to work or marching to their offices in protest. The impact of their action was felt in several areas with several post offices, and bank branches being closed down. Ben Gurion Airport alone, which is the main airport in Israel stopped flights for two hours from 8 in the morning to 10 in the morning local time which also contributed to the various disruptions.
Notably, even many of Israel’s leading 200 business tycoons joined the protestors which caused some of the largest shopping malls packed with international firms such as Zara’s owner, Inditex SA, Nike Inc., and others to stay shut. Many technology firms, including Lemonade and Qumra Capital, also had to close their offices because of the strike.
Histadrut Calls for Action
This strike was initiated by the Histadrut labor federation, which can be described as one of the most influential unions within the Israeli territory. The organization stated that the strike would be called off by 6 p.m. when a court sat to determine the government’s request to stop the strike. This was made following a series of increasing tensions within a week especially after the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7th were found dead in a tunnel in Gaza with their heads severed. The Israeli authorities said these hostages were killed a short while before they were discovered; all had been shot at close range.
The primary factor driving this increasing intensity and public pressure at the countryside protests involves the following;
The strikes were coupled with mass protest rallies with well over a quarter million Israelis protesting across the country. These protests were the largest since Hamas militants began a deadly cross-border infiltration nearly 11 months ago leading to the conflict. Critics have accused Netanyahu of extending the war for as long as he can to avoid early elections in which current polling data shows that his party might lose badly. On this, they accuse him of ignoring the safe recovery of some 100 other hostages who are still held in Gaza. It has also spread its hostilities to other areas particularly to the Western Bank as well as the neighboring Lebanon, thus leading to speculations of a regional conflict.
This paper is an analysis of Netanyahu’s stance on the ceasefire
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has not inclined to support any ceasefire saying that this will allow Hamas to replenish its weaponry. He says that the objective is to eliminate Hamas which is supported by Iran. The Israeli officials said that letting Hamas exist would encourage the country’s enemies and lead to further hostage cases in the future.
Despite the pressure from Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Netanyahu has stood his ground, especially on matters concerning the IDF presence in the Philadelphi corridor that separates Gaza from Egypt. It became one of the most crucial stumbling blocks of negotiations with Hamas going on at the time. However, discussions on the issue did not produce any result as a security cabinet meeting that was held on Sunday evening closed without any conclusion.
Public and International Response
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen said that Netanyahu continuously went on about his political influence instead of worrying about his children trapped in the school. Dekel-Chen shared her concern in her interview with CBS’s Face the Nation noting that instead of focusing on the hostages Netanyahu has decided on posing with “a narrow, radical messianic coalition. ”
In fact, due to pressures from the public Netanyahu does not seem to change its course anywhere any time soon. In a statement released on Sunday, he reiterated his commitment to confronting Hamas, warning the group: For this reason, the common statement is “We will pursue you, we will find you, and we will settle accounts with you. ”
Internationally, President Joe Biden alongside US Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to hold a meeting with the team that deals with hostage negotiations. The Washington Post reveals that the US has been holding negotiations with Egypt and Qatar in an attempt to present the final offer to both Israel and Hamas after what has been a long deadlock.
Economic Effect of the Conflict
The war however has flattened the Israeli economy, growing by only two percent last year, far from the approximate seven percent increase expected by the finance ministry before the start of the war. On Monday the shekel declined by 0.7% against the dollar, while, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange rose slightly.
Among the executed hostages was Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli-US citizen whose parents demanded the liberation of all kidnappees. They have done this by getting an audience with President Biden and other world leaders leveraging the platform to create consciousness and campaign.
But Hamas stated that is it the Israelis who killed the hostages found over the weekend. It has been widely regarded as beginning on October, 7 with a Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and since then, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said that over 40,000 Palestinians were killed in the conflict. The total number of deaths given here are those of combatant and non-combatant persons but the health ministry does not make this split.
In this case, the constant escalation of the conflict makes the population of Israel demand decisive actions from this government, therefore, exerting pressure on Netanyahu’s government to solve the issue.
