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 hostages” was urgently needed. “Were it not for the delays, sabotage, and excuses” in months of mediation efforts, the six hostages “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 captives. Shortly afterward, the head of Israel’s powerful Histadrut trade union ordered a “complete strike” for Monday in support of the hostages. “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.”
“A deal is not progressing due to political considerations and this is unacceptable.” The six hostages 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 by Palestinian militants from a music festival.
Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said all six “were abducted alive on the morning of October 7” and “brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them”. Qatar-based Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said the six were “killed by Zionist (Israeli) bombing”, an accusation the military denied.
Critics in Israel have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prolonging the war for political gain. Netanyahu told Lobanov’s parents on Sunday: “I would like to tell you how much I regret and request forgiveness for not succeeding in bringing Sasha back alive.”
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