Lapid Calls for Nationwide Strike on Sunday in Support of Hostages and Their Families
Yair Lapid has urged all Israelis — including supporters of the current government — to join a strike on Sunday, the first day of the workweek in Israel. Posting on X (formerly Twitter), Lapid emphasized that the strike is not about politics but about solidarity.
“Strike on Sunday,” Lapid wrote. “Strike out of solidarity. Strike because the families of the hostages have asked for it — and that’s reason enough. Strike because no one owns the monopoly on emotion, mutual responsibility, or Jewish values.”
The call for the strike came after about 20 parents of hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza asked for nationwide action. On Monday, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, representing relatives of those still captive, publicly supported the strike.
The Forum has been urging Israel’s main trade union federation, Histadrut, to participate, but the union has decided not to call a general strike. Instead, it said it will back “workers’ solidarity demonstrations,” according to the Forum.
The group called for a grassroots citizens’ strike, saying, “Allow everyone to take a day off on Sunday to follow the dictates of their conscience.”
“The time to act is now, to take to the streets,” the Forum added. “675 days of captivity and war must end.”
The Forum also criticized the government for what it called sacrificing the remaining hostages “on the altar of an endless, aimless war.”
Last week, Israel’s security cabinet approved plans to expand military operations into parts of Gaza not yet under Israeli control, raising fears that more hostages could be killed.
Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s October 2023 attack, 49 remain in captivity, with the Israeli military confirming that 27 have died.
In early August, Hamas and Islamic Jihad released videos showing two hostages in extremely poor health.
The October 2023 Hamas attack resulted in 1,219 deaths, mostly civilians, according to AFP’s tally of official figures.
Israel’s military response in Gaza has killed at least 61,499 people, mostly civilians, based on Gaza’s health ministry data considered reliable by the United Nations.
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