Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Tuesday endorsed calls for a nationwide strike to demand the release of hostages still held in Gaza.
“Strike on Sunday,” Lapid posted on X, urging participation across political lines. “Strike out of solidarity… because the families have asked, and that’s reason enough.”
Sunday marks the first working day of the week in Israel. Lapid’s appeal follows a call by about 20 parents of hostages, which was later supported by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. The group has urged Israel’s main trade union federation, Histadrut, to join the action, but the union instead pledged to support “workers’ solidarity demonstrations.”
In a statement, the Forum called for a citizens’ strike from “the grassroots to the top,” saying: “675 days of captivity and war must end.” It accused the government of sacrificing hostages “on the altar of an endless, aimless war.”
The dispute comes as Israel’s security cabinet approved expanding military operations into Gaza’s remaining uncontrolled areas, raising fears for the remaining captives.
Since Hamas’s October 2023 attack on southern Israel — which killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians — Palestinian militants have held 251 hostages. The Israeli military says 49 remain in Gaza, including 27 confirmed dead.
The war, now in its 22nd month, has killed at least 61,499 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, figures deemed credible by the UN.
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