Protests in Israel swell and a big strike is planned after 6 more hostages die in Gaza

globalnews.ca:

JERUSALEM (AP) — Grieving and angry Israelis surged into the streets Sunday night after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza, and demanded — chanting “Now! Now!” — that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a cease-fire with Hamas to bring the remaining captives home.

Israel’s largest trade union, the Histadrut, called a general strike for Monday to pressure the government — the first since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the war. The strike is expected to shut down or disrupt major sectors of the economy, including banking, health care and the country’s main airport.

Tens of thousands of Israelis were expected to protest Sunday night. Many blame Netanyahu for failing to bring hostages back alive by reaching a deal with Hamas to end nearly 11 months of war. Negotiations have dragged on for months. Israel’s army has acknowledged the difficulty of rescuing hostages and said a deal is the only way to bring a large-scale return.

“I’m crying the cry of humanity,” said one protester who gave his name as Amos as thousands, some of them weeping, gathered outside Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem.

The military said all six hostages had been killed shortly before the arrival of Israeli forces. Netanyahu said Israel would hold Hamas accountable for killing the hostages in “cold blood,” and blamed the militant group for the stalled negotiations, saying “whoever murders hostages doesn’t want a deal.”

Militants seized the Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, and four of the other hostages at a music festival in southern Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the war.

The native of Berkeley, California, lost part of his left arm to a grenade in the attack. In April, a Hamas-issued video showed him alive but