(Jerusalem) An Israeli labor court on Monday ordered the immediate end of a strike launched since the morning in order to increase pressure on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to obtain the release of hostages held in Gaza.
“After hearing the opinions of the parties and reading the documents filed, we are issuing a national order prohibiting the strike that has been launched, specifying that the strike must end today at 2:30 p.m. (7:30 a.m. Eastern time), the Tel Aviv Labor Court said in its decision, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.
The court justified its decision by saying that “it was clear that this was a political strike,” adding that it found “no economic argument” in the explanations of the powerful Histadrut trade union to justify the strike.
The text recalls the words of Histadrut leader Arnon Bar-David, who said that “we cannot stand idly by while our children are being murdered in the tunnels of Gaza.”
The Israeli attorney general, at the request of the Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich (extreme right), had seized the labor court, arguing that the motivation for the strike was political and did not concern a collective labor dispute.
US President Joe Biden said on Monday that Netanyahu was not doing enough to reach a deal to free Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
Asked by reporters whether the Israeli prime minister was “doing enough” to secure a deal, Biden said “no.” He spoke as he arrived at the White House for a meeting with U.S. negotiators involved in the deal.
A movement followed unevenly
The strike movement was unevenly followed on Monday at midday.
The trade union center had called for a “general strike” on Sunday, following massive demonstrations following the announcement of the death of six hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and killed “at point-blank range,” according to the Israeli Ministry of Health.
“We stop everything so that our voice is heard, to say that we do not want to do anything until they [les otages] “They are not here,” Michal Hadas-Nahor, 34, told AFP at a protest in Tel Aviv on Monday.
“I really hope this makes a difference, otherwise I don’t know how I can live in this country and raise my children here,” the protester added.
“We want this government to cease to exist, we want elections, and above all we want it to sign an agreement to free the hostages and end this war which is terrible for both sides,” Barak Hadurian, a 56-year-old engineer, told AFP.
Several major cities, including Tel Aviv and Haifa, followed the strike call, announcing the closure of municipal services on Monday. Disruptions were also recorded at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, where departures partially resumed at 10 a.m. (3 a.m. Eastern Time) after a two-hour total shutdown.
PHOTO OHAD ZWIGENBERG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Protesters demand a ceasefire and the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, September 2, 2024 in Tel Aviv, Israel.
But the movement was followed unevenly on Monday, with several municipalities, notably that of Jerusalem, not responding to the order.
And in the localities participating in the movement, public transport, run by private companies, was functioning at least partially. In government services, too, the walkout was unevenly followed.
“There is no reception for the public today, but we are working in the offices,” an Israeli social security employee told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The employee, who opposed the strike, called it a “scandal” as the country is at war, more than 11 months after the Hamas attack in Israel that triggered it. “The Histadrut is behaving like a political body, not like a workers’ union,” he added.
Meanwhile, demonstrations continued in several cities on Monday to demand an agreement on the release of the hostages.
According to an AFP journalist, several protesters were arrested in Tel Aviv while blocking traffic on a highway.
These gatherings had brought together several tens of thousands of people the day before.
The offensive continues
During the night, shelling was reported in Gaza City, as well as airstrikes on Nusseirat in the center of the besieged Palestinian territory devastated by nearly 11 months of war.
At least two people were killed in a strike on an apartment in northern Gaza City, the Civil Defense said.
Israel is also continuing its military operation launched on Wednesday in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory separated from the Gaza Strip and occupied by Israel since 1967.
PHOTO JAAFAR ASHTIYEH, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
An excavator destroys a street during an Israeli raid in central Jenin in the occupied West Bank on September 2, 2024.
On Monday in Jenin, in the north of this Palestinian territory, Israeli excavators destroyed roads, causing significant damage, according to an AFP correspondent.
At least 24 Palestinians, mostly fighters, have been killed by the Israeli army in the West Bank since Wednesday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. All were “terrorists,” according to the Israeli army.
Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, and Islamic Jihad, another armed group, said at least 14 of the dead were fighting in their ranks.