By Steven Scheer
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Municipal services in several Israeli districts were disrupted on Monday after the country’s biggest labour union launched a general strike to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into agreeing to a deal to bring Israeli hostages in Gaza home.
The head of the Histadrut union, which represents hundreds of thousands of workers across the economy, called for the strike on Sunday after the bodies of six hostages were recovered in a tunnel in southern Gaza.
The return of the hostages, who were shot dead between 48-72 hours before being found by Israeli forces, according to health ministry estimates, triggered deep shock in Israel, prompting at least half a million people to take to the streets in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in protest on Sunday.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sought to have the strike call dismissed by Israel’s Labour Court, which was due to meet mid-morning but numerous sectors were affected by the strike call, which was backed by many employer groups including manufacturers and the high tech sector.
Some services at Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s main air transport hub, were suspended, although incoming flights were still landing while bus and light rail services in many areas were either cancelled or only partially functioning.
Workers at Israel’s main commercial port Haifa were also on strike.
Hospitals were only partially operating and banks were not working but many private sector businesses were open. However employers were allowing staff to join the strike so many services were disrupted.
The strikes follow months of protests by families representing some of the hostages and underscore the deep divisions that have opened up in Israel over Netanyahu’s approach to securing a ceasefire deal.
Despite pressure from his own defence minister as well as senior generals and intelligence officials, Netanyahu has insisted on maintaining Israeli troops in key points of the Gaza Strip after any ceasefire.
Hamas has rejected any Israeli presence and despite the efforts of Egyptian and Qatari diplomats and repeated visits to the region by senior U.S. officials urging a deal, there has been no sign of a breakthrough in talks to halt the fighting and bring the hostages home.
Hamas still holds 101 hostages from the 253 seized when gunmen rampaged through Israeli communities around Gaza last October, killing 1,200 Israelis and foreigners and triggering a relentless Israeli assault that has laid waste to Gaza and killed more than 40,600 Palestinians.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie; Editing by Ros Russell)