Israeli Hostage Families Call for Nationwide Strike to Force Cease-Fire Deal with Hamas

JERUSALEM – The families of Israeli hostages still held captive in Gaza are making an urgent appeal for a nationwide strike on Sunday, calling on businesses to close and citizens to take to the streets to pressure the government into securing an immediate cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas.

The call for mass civil action comes at a critical juncture in the conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to push military operations into the last remaining areas of Gaza not yet under Israeli control, a move that families fear could further endanger the lives of their loved ones. Israeli authorities estimate that roughly 20 of the remaining captives have survived their long ordeal.

“We are asking for the people of Israel to halt on Sunday, not to go to work, not to go about their routines, and to take to the streets,” said Viki Cohen, whose son Nimrod, a soldier, is being held in Gaza, during a television interview earlier this week.

A Growing Movement Amid a Political Stalemate

The planned work stoppage is scheduled to begin at approximately 7 a.m. on Sunday. A number of prominent institutions have already pledged their support, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and several businesses around the country. However, it remains unclear how many Israelis will ultimately participate in the strike.

The effort represents the latest chapter in nearly two years of sustained public demonstrations in Israel, which have so far failed to compel Prime Minister Netanyahu to soften his conditions for a deal with Hamas. The core of the political impasse remains unchanged:

• Hamas has stated it will not release all the remaining hostages unless Israel agrees to a permanent end to the war.

• Prime Minister Netanyahu maintains that he cannot accept an end to the war as long as Hamas remains in power in Gaza.

The war began on October 7, 2023, after Hamas launched a devastating surprise attack on Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking about 250 others back to Gaza as hostages. In response, Israel launched a sweeping military campaign in the enclave. According to Gaza health officials, the campaign has resulted in the deaths of more than 60,000 people, including thousands of children. These figures do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.

A Nation Divided: Key Labor Federation Declines to Join

While the hostage families’ plea has garnered emotional and institutional support, it has not achieved universal backing. Critically, Israel’s largest and most powerful labor federation, the Histadrut, has announced that it will not join the work stoppage.

Arnon Bar-David, the leader of the Histadrut, expressed deep sympathy but questioned the strike’s effectiveness.

“Unfortunately, and although my heart is bursting with anger, it has no practical outcome,” Bar-David said in a statement this past week.

His skepticism is rooted in recent history. Last September, the Histadrut joined a similar strike after Israeli soldiers discovered the bodies of six hostages in a tunnel in southern Gaza, who were believed to have been executed by their captors. That widespread work stoppage ended without successfully pressuring Netanyahu’s government to change its course or secure a hostage deal, a precedent that now looms over Sunday’s planned action.

For the families of the hostages, however, inaction is not an option. With the lives of their relatives hanging in the balance and the drums of a renewed military offensive beating louder, they are putting their faith in the power of the Israeli public to force a political breakthrough where negotiations have failed.