{
    "id": 495,
    "date": "2024-09-01",
    "title": "Grief and fury on Israel\u2019s streets, as hostage killings pile pressure on Netanyahu to secure ceasefire deal",
    "content": "From bustling Tel Aviv to the southern Israeli city of Eilat, tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in one of the biggest nationwide protests since the outbreak of Israel\u2019s war on Hamas as they called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure a ceasefire-for-hostages deal. Anger at Netanyahu \u2013 who has been accused of stalling efforts for a deal by some hostage families and their supporters \u2013 reached a boiling point Sunday as protesters responded in fury to the news that another six captives had been found killed in Gaza. Israel\u2019s largest labor union called for a general strike on Monday and threatened to shut down the \u201centire Israeli economy.\u201d Three of the victims, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, had been expected to be released in an eventual ceasefire, Israeli officials told CNN. Autopsies showed they were shot at short range on Thursday or Friday morning; Israeli forces announced the recovery of their bodies from an underground tunnel in Rafah on Saturday. The details of their deaths fueled anger that was palpable across the country as protesters blocked highways, waved Israeli flags, and chanted, \u201cwe won\u2019t abandon them\u201d in reference to the more than 100 hostages, including 35 believed to be dead, being held in Gaza, according to data from Israeli Prime Minister\u2019s Office. The vast majority of those hostages were taken during Hamas\u2019 October 7 attack on Israel, when some 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 taken captive. In Tel Aviv, a group of protesters stood behind a mock cemetery while holding signs saying \u201cnamed after\u00a0Benjamin Netanyahu,\u201d as they cast blame on the prime minister for the deaths of the hostages. Later in the evening, the police fired a water cannon filled with foam at protesters blocking a highway in the city \u2013 prompting demonstrators to chant, \u201cOfficer, who are you keeping safe?\u201d The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said at least 700,000 people took part in protests across Israel, with an estimated 550,000 of them in Tel Aviv. CNN cannot independently verify the figures and has asked Israeli police to provide an estimation of the crowd size. In Tel Aviv, crowds were visibly emotional; many shouted \u201csorry\u201d as the names of the six hostages were recited on a loudspeaker during the protest, which organizers said was the biggest since the start of the war. One protester told CNN said she was there to show support for her cousin, whose body was repatriated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) overnight. \u201cI\u2019m here every week, I wanted to show her father\u00a0and other parents that we are here for them,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd on the other side, we\u2019re incredibly angry at the government. What they\u2019ve been doing is unforgivable.\u201d In Jerusalem, protesters called for Netanyahu to resign as the government held a cabinet meeting. Eden Kramer, who attended the rally with a toddler in a stroller, said she was also demonstrating for the child\u2019s future. \u201cWe hope everyone will come out today to bring a message to the government: We can\u2019t keep up like this anymore,\u201d she said. The discovery of the six hostage bodies has thrown negotiations for a deal into question. Skepticism has mounted over Netanyahu\u2019s willingness to strike one given fierce opposition from far-right ministers in his coalition. The Israeli prime minister\u2019s political future largely depends on his far-right coalition partners \u2013 several of whom have already\u00a0threatened to leave the government\u00a0and cause its collapse if he agrees to the deal. During a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant lambasted the Israeli government for what he said was prioritizing control of a key border area known as the Philadelphi corridor over a deal to free hostages, calling it a \u201cmoral disgrace.\u201d The Philadelphi corridor, a 14-kilometer (8.7 mile) stretch that runs along the border between Gaza and Egypt, is currently controlled by the IDF. The deployment of Israeli troops along the corridor during the first phase of a ceasefire agreement has been a major point of contention between Israel and Hamas, with Hamas saying Israeli troops must withdraw from the border zone. Netanyahu says control of the corridor is needed to prevent Hamas from resuming arms smuggling through tunnels underneath it. Gallant, who has increasingly found himself isolated within Netanyahu\u2019s cabinet on the issue of a hostage deal, warned his colleagues Sunday that \u201cif we continue on this path, we won\u2019t manage to achieve the goals that we set for ourselves.\u201d He added, \u201cIf we want the hostages alive, we don\u2019t have time.\u201d A senior US official said the killings of the hostages called into question\u00a0how serious Hamas is\u00a0about reaching a deal as three of them were set to be released as part of the ceasefire agreement. \u201cUS officials had been working on a final package together with Qatar and Egypt. The package included Hersh (Goldberg-Polin) and a number of the hostages who were just executed,\u201d the senior US official said Sunday. \u201cThis calls into question\u00a0Hamas\u2019 seriousness about a deal, even as pressure also builds on Israel and Netanyahu personally.\u201d A source familiar with the ceasefire talks told CNN it wasn\u2019t clear how the killings would affect the discussions, adding that the impact will likely be seen in the next day or two. The \u201csituation is complicated,\u201d the source said. There are currently no in-person joint negotiations with the parties, but the source said discussions continue through the regular channels. Israel\u2019s\u00a0far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich\u00a0has asked the country\u2019s attorney general to request urgent injunctions to prevent the\u00a0planned nationwide strike\u00a0on Monday. In a letter addressed to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Smotrich argued that a strike would hurt the economy during wartime and set a dangerous precedent. The attorney general\u2019s office has not yet commented on the request. He had earlier instructed the finance ministry\u2019s salary department to pass on a directive that anyone who joins the strike on Monday will not be paid. The chairman of Israel\u2019s largest trade union, known as Histadrut,\u00a0warned on Sunday that the country was \u201cin a downward spiral, and we don\u2019t stop receiving body bags.\u201d Arnon Bar-David, who called for the strike, told a press conference that \u201conly a strike would shock, and that\u2019s why I\u2019ve decided that starting tomorrow at six in the morning, the entire Israeli economy will shut down.\u201d He added that the strike would include the shutdown of Ben-Gurion Airport. In a statement, Ben-Gurion Airport said it would be \u201copen for flights and landings on Monday, September 2.\u201d The Hebrew University of Jerusalem said it would join the strike, which it described as a \u201cresponse to the tragic news of the murder of our student Carmel Gat, along with five other Israeli hostages.\u201d Gat, a\u00a040-year-old occupational therapist, was taken by Hamas from her parents\u2019 home in the border\u00a0kibbutz\u00a0of Be\u2019eri in southern Israel on October 7. A spokesperson for the university said the shutdown would be more extensive than previous measures taken since the beginning of the war, such as a partial strike in June. CNN\u2019s\u00a0Eyad Kourdi, Jeremy Diamond and Mike Schwartz contributed to this report.",
    "hashtags": "",
    "url": "https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/01/middleeast/israel-hostage-protests-strike-netanyahu-intl-latam/index.html"
}