Here are the latest developments from Jerusalem.

 

Patrick Kingsley

Updated

Sept. 2, 2024, 4:15 a.m. ET31 minutes ago

Patrick Kingsley Reporting from Jerusalem

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/09/01/world/hostages-strike-israel-gaza-war

 

Here are the latest developments.

Some teachers, municipal employees, transit workers and others across Israel walked off the job Monday morning as a labor strike to protest the government’s war strategy in Gaza laid bare the bitter schism among Israelis over their leaders’ reluctance to agree to a cease-fire with Hamas.

 

In a broad expression of anti-government dissent, union chiefs and business leaders were joining forces to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to agree to a truce in Gaza that could facilitate the release of dozens of hostages still held there by Hamas. The strike came a day after the Israeli military announced that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages from Gaza, the latest captives to be found dead nearly 11 months after their abductions in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks that set off the war.

 

The strike was expected to bring widespread disruptions. Many schools and municipal offices across the country closed or cut services. In Jerusalem, the light-rail network will be closed until noon. Workers at Ben-Gurion International Airport, the nation’s largest, have said they will strike for part of the day, reducing the number of departing flights. And medical staff at several hospitals reduced some non-urgent services.

 

The strike reflects a national outpouring of grief, fury and protest after the bodies of the six hostages were recovered in Gaza over the weekend. Advocates for the hostages and critics of Mr. Netanyahu argued that a cease-fire agreement could have saved their lives.

 

Mr. Netanyahu has refused to agree to a truce that would involve Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza or lead to a permanent halt to the fighting, saying that either move could allow Hamas to survive and endanger Israel’s long-term security. Hamas has also refused to compromise, saying that it will not release more hostages without a permanent cease-fire.

 

Here are the latest developments:

 

Major protests: There were huge street protests across Israel on Sunday night in which hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, according to organizers, called for a hostage release and a cease-fire.

 

Cease-fire talks: President Biden and Vice President Harris are scheduled to meet at the White House on Monday morning with the team representing the United States in negotiations over a potential cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas.

 

Netanyahu’s calculations: It’s unclear what effect, if any, the protests and strikes may have on Mr. Netanyahu. The last strike on this scale, in March 2023, succeeded in forcing him to halt his deeply contentious effort to overhaul Israel’s judicial system. But his coalition partners generally oppose a compromise.

 

Hostages killed: The Israeli military said on Sunday that the six bodies found in Gaza were those of hostages who had been “brutally murdered” by Hamas. The Israeli Health Ministry later said that a forensic examination showed the hostages had been shot at close range. Hamas claimed, without providing evidence, that the hostages had been killed by the Israeli military. A funeral for one of hostages, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli American dual citizen whose parents were among the most prominent campaigners for their release, was set for Monday in Jerusalem.