The general strike was announced by the trade union umbrella organization Histadrut for the period from 06 to 18 on Monday, in protest against the government's handling of the hostage issue in the Gaza War.
But early in the afternoon, the court ordered a stop to the strike at 14.30. Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David still thinks the strike worked.
"You have shown that the fate of the hostages is not about right- or left-wing politics, it's simply about life or death," he says in a press release quoted in Israeli media about those who participated.
Netanyahu: Sorry
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, on the other hand, at a cabinet meeting that the strike is like showing support for the terrorist-classified Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
At a press conference later in the evening, he apologizes for not having managed to bring the hostages home alive.
We were very close, but failed. Hamas will pay dearly for this, he says, hinting that the event shows the need for unity in the face of an existential war against Iran and that Israel must maintain control over the disputed Philadelphi corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border.
The demonstrations continue despite this, including a large turnout at Monday's funeral of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the six hostages found dead over the weekend. Thousands of people are reported to be lining the streets in Jerusalem.
Massive demonstrations
On Sunday, hundreds of thousands, possibly over half a million, participants gathered in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities, following the news of the six dead. In several parts of Israel, demonstrators have also stopped traffic by blocking roads, reports Haaretz.
Six hostages who could have returned alive were murdered in captivity. We cannot let it happen again, we will do whatever it takes until they come home, says Ella Ben-Ami, whose father is being held by terrorist-stamped Palestinian Hamas in Gaza, according to the newspaper.
Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, and Alexander Lobanov were found dead in a tunnel in southern Gaza on Saturday. They are believed to have been murdered by their captors a short time before they were found by Israeli military.
