GAZA STRIP: Israel’s main union on Sunday ordered a nationwide general strike after soldiers recovered the bodies of six prisoners from the Gaza Strip.

The remains of the six were recovered on Saturday “from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area” in southern Gaza, the military said.

They were among 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s Oct 7 raid on Israel, 97 of whom remain captive, including 33 the army says are dead. Scores were released during a negotiated one-week truce in November, but relatives of those still held believe not enough is being done to free them.

Campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said a negotiated “deal for the return of the prisoners” was urgently needed.

“Were it not for the delays, sabotage and excuses” in months of mediation efforts, the six prisoners “would likely still be alive”, a statement said.

The families called for a nationwide general strike to force the government to reach a deal to secure the release of the remaining prisoners.

Shortly afterwards, the head of Israel’s powerful Histadrut trade union ordered a “complete strike” for Monday in support of the prisoners. Hamas denies killing prisoners

“I have come to the conclusion that only our intervention can shake those who need to be shaken,” Histadrut chairman Arnon bar David said in a statement.

“Starting tomorrow at six in the morning, the entire Israeli economy will go on complete strike.”

The six prisoners were named as Carmel Gat, taken from a kibbutz community near the Gaza border, and Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino, US-Israeli Hersh Goldb­erg-Polin and Russian-Israeli Alexander Lobanov — all seized from a music festival site.

Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said the six were “killed by Zionist (Israeli) bombing”, an accusation the military denied.

A senior Hamas official said that “some” of the six had been “approved” for release in a potential hostage-prisoner swap as part of a deal yet to be agreed.

Critics in Israel have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prolonging the aggression for political gain.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2024