Arnon Ben-David, the chairman the Histadrut labor union, says that he has agreed to a request by the families of the hostages to hold a 100-minute labor strike on Sunday, January 14, which will be the 100th day since October 7, when they were kidnapped by Hamas. Bar-David’s plea was not just for a halt in economic activity but also for workers to rally in support of the families affected by the war.

A protest near the headquarters of the Israeli army in Tel-Aviv, January 7, 2024 (Photo Women Wage Peace)

At noon on Sunday, workplaces across the country will come to a halt and workers will take part in rallies across the country to support the families of the Hamas hostages still being held captive in Gaza. The Teachers’ Union and Koach LaOvdim (“Power to the Workers”) Union and the Israel Bar Association supports the strike.

The strike is a means of expressing solidarity and pressuring the far-right government to advance a deal with Hamas. “We need to hold elections, and if [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu thinks he needs to run again, that’s his business. If I were Bibi, I wouldn’t run again for the elections,” Bar-David said on December 2 in an interview with Maariv.

Despite the families’ urgency, the government remains steadfast in its belief that “sustained military pressure” will facilitate progress in the negotiations for a deal. The Israeli authorities estimate that about 136 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza. During the humanitarian pause (24-30 November), 86 Israeli and 24 foreign national hostages were released.  

Between the afternoons of 11 and 12 January, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 151 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and another 248 people were reportedly injured. Between October 7, 2023 and 12:00 on January 12, 2024, at least 23,708 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 60,005 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH.  Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, including 36 children, according to the Israeli authorities, the vast majority on 7 October.

Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=31413