What to remember from Sunday, September 1st

Following the discovery of the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas, a call for a “general strike” in Israel has been declared for Monday.

The main Israeli trade union center declared on Sunday, September 1, a “general strike” for Monday, in order to force the government to reach an agreement to release the hostages held in Gaza. This announcement comes after the army discovered the bodies of six dead hostages in a tunnel in the Palestinian territory. Franceinfo provides an update on the latest information relating to to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Bodies of six hostages found in Gaza Strip

“The bodies of hostages Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino” were found on Saturday in a “tunnel in the Rafah area”in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli army said, sparking shock and anger in Israel. US President Joe Biden had earlier announced the discovery of the six bodies, including that of Israeli-American Goldberg-Polin, saying “devastated”.

At least four hostages were to be buried Sunday in several Israeli cities and in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure from part of the country, threatened Hamas to “settle one’s account”His Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, said the hostages had been “killed in cold blood by Hamas just before we got to them”.

Call for ‘general strike’ launched in Israel for Monday

The Histadrut, Israel’s main trade union center, has decreed a “general strike” for Monday. “We must put an end to this abandonment of hostages. (…) Tomorrow at 6 a.m. (5 a.m. in Paris), the entire Israeli economy will be on general strike.”Histadrut leader Arnon Bar-David said at a press conference on Sunday.

“At 8am (7am in Paris), the airport will be closed, takeoffs and landings will cease”the powerful trade union said in a statement. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid and families of hostages have also called for the strike.

At least 24 dead in Israeli operation in West Bank

Israel continued on Sunday a vast military operation launched on Wednesday in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory separated from the Gaza Strip and occupied by Israel since 1967. On Sunday, Israeli bulldozers destroyed streets and electrical installations in Jenin, one of the cities targeted by this operation, noted an AFP photographer.

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. They are all “terrorists”according to the Israeli army.

Three Israeli police officers killed in southern West Bank

In the southern West Bank, three Israeli police officers, including a woman, were killed Sunday near a checkpoint in a “armed attack”according to the Israeli police commander. For its part, the Israeli army announced that it had shot dead a Palestinian “suspected of having led” This unclaimed attack, described by Hamas as “natural response to the massacres of the people” Palestinian.

Polio vaccination campaign begins in Gaza

On Sunday, the centre of the Gaza Strip enjoyed a few hours of respite, with the launch of a large anti-polio campaign under the auspices of “humanitarian breaks” three days each, from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. (5 a.m. to 1 p.m. Paris time), accepted by Israel according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The goal is to vaccinate more than 640,000 children under 10, after the first confirmed case of the disease in the Palestinian territory in twenty-five years.