Tel Aviv court cuts ‘general strike’ to demand hostage deal

Organized on Monday, in the wake of massive demonstrations following the announcement of the death of six hostages held by Hamas, the movement must end at 2:30 p.m., according to a court decision.

“A general strike”, or almost. The Israelis were called to walk out on Monday, September 2, at the call of the powerful trade union center Histadrut, to force the government to reach an agreement to release hostages held in Gaza, after the army discovered six dead hostages in a tunnel.

The protest, which was supposed to last until 6 p.m., was cut short following a ruling by an Israeli labor court. “After hearing the views 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.”the Tel Aviv court said in its decision, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.

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.

LHistadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David had already said earlier in the day that the strike would continue until 6 p.m., 12 hours earlier than originally planned.

As early as 6am on Monday morning, several major cities, including Tel Aviv and Haifa, announced the closure of their municipal services for the day. Disruptions were also recorded at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion Airport, where departures partially resumed after two hours of total interruption. In the localities participating in the movement, public transport, run by private companies, was operating at least partially, while the walkout was unevenly followed in government services.

As of Sunday evening, tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in several cities across the country to demand an agreement on the release of the hostages. In Tel Aviv, on Monday, protesters blocked a highway. The Israeli daily Haaretz reported several arrests after police dispersed hundreds of protesters.