LONDON — Anti-government protesters gathered in the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for a second day of protests after the killing of six hostages, demanding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conclude a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas.
Street protests continued across the country on Monday, coinciding with a general strike called by Israel’s largest trade union – the Histadrut, or General Organization of Workers in Israel, which has hundreds of thousands of members – which led to service disruptions in some. country area.
Protesters broke barriers near Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem on Monday as they demanded progress on a deal to return hostages in Gaza.
The current wave of demonstrations was sparked by the recovery of the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday – among them Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The Israel Defense Forces said the prisoners were killed by militants “shortly” before they were found.
The killing sparked outrage in Israel, where some quarters blamed the death on Netanyahu’s months-long failure to reach a cease-fire deal with Hamas.
During a press conference Monday afternoon, Netanyahu apologized to the families of the six hostages who died.
“I am sorry that we did not succeed in bringing back our loved ones. We were close, but we did not succeed,” Netanyahu said.
Amid the protests, airlines out of Ben-Gurion International Airport temporarily suspended some flights on Monday morning because of the attack, according to the airport. The union said on Sunday the strike would only affect some departing flights. The general strike is expected to last until Monday at approximately 2:30 p.m. local time, according to union Chairman Arnon Bar-David.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said in a statement while expressing support for the general attack: “He is still alive. Netanyahu and the death cabinet decided not to save him. There are still hostages, a deal is still possible. Netanyahu did not do it for political reasons.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, meanwhile, sent in X linking the death of six prisoners to Netanyahu’s reported decision last week to retain military control of the Philadelphi Corridor – a strip of land that runs along the Gaza-Egypt border – despite Hamas objections. Gallant asked the security cabinet to immediately reverse the decision in order to save the remaining hostages.
Public anger flared on Sunday night with hundreds of thousands of Israelis taking to the streets, some of whom clashed with police. Authorities said 29 people were arrested in Tel Aviv, as protesters set fire to barricades and set off fireworks.
Netanyahu blamed Hamas for failing to hold the ceasefire and hostage release talks.
“Whoever killed the hostages – did not want a deal,” the prime minister said in a statement released on Sunday. “Hamas continues to reject all proposals.”
“The Israeli government is committed, and I am personally committed, to continuing to pursue a deal that will return all hostages and guarantee our security and existence,” he said.
Hamas accused Netanyahu of deliberately sabotaging the negotiations by adding new unacceptable demands, which it said were “aimed at blocking an agreement to preserve his power.”
Some of Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition partners have rejected the protesters’ demands for a deal.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, for example, noted in a post on X that he is seeking legal action to eliminate public strikes. Organizers, he said, “will not be allowed to change the country.”
Strikers, he added, “serve the interests of (Hamas leader Yahya) Sinwar and Hamas.”
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.