Gaza War | Protests against Netanyahu's war course

With the blockade of the main road between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and other protests, a general strike began in Israel on Sunday, in which numerous companies and municipalities are participating.

The Hostage Families Forum has been campaigning in recent days to bring the Israeli economy to a standstill. This is intended to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government into negotiations for the release of the remaining 50 hostages taken to the Gaza Strip. In Israel, the work week begins on Sunday. "Hundreds of thousands of Israelis will paralyze the country today for two demands: negotiations for the return of the hostages and an end to the war," the initiative said in a statement.

The first images of the demonstrations broadcast by Israeli television made it clear that their initiators wanted to go beyond the street protests that had taken place regularly in recent years. Dark smoke from burning tires hung over the Ayalon Highway near Tel Aviv on Sunday morning. A million demonstrators were expected to attend a rally in the city center.

A vigil began in front of Prime Minister Netanyahu's residence at 6:29 a.m., the time of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was kidnapped in the Gaza Strip, sums up the mood of many Israelis: "We are tired of waiting for Netanyahu to end the war whenever it suits him."

Leading opposition leader Yair Lapid appealed to the population to participate in the strike in solidarity with the hostages. However, it is unlikely that the initiators will actually succeed in getting the entire country behind them. While the largest trade union federation, the Histadrut, expressed solidarity with the hostage families, there was no call for its members to strike.

Netanyahu's poll numbers remain high. The majority of Israelis support the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip planned by his cabinet. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich described the demonstrations on Sunday as a "perverse and damaging campaign that plays into Hamas's hands." If Israel negotiates with those hiding hostages in tunnels, it will gamble away its future, the hardliner declared. The newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reports that the police are also pursuing a tougher approach. Dozens of demonstrators were arrested during the course of Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, the offensive on Gaza City , which the demonstrators are trying to prevent, has already begun. Heavy airstrikes by the Israeli army (IDF) destroyed several residential buildings in the Zitoun neighborhood on Sunday, and rockets hit Al Ahli Hospital. The Ministry of Health counted more than 30 dead. Thousands of families are moving toward the civilian areas designated by the army.

The IDF wants to drive the residents as close to the Egyptian border as possible. Smotrich and other politicians from the governing coalition are relying on talks with South Sudan, Libya, and other countries that would accept many of Gaza's former 2.3 million residents. The destruction of Gaza City plays a crucial role in the plan, which Israeli constitutional experts like Omer Bartov have now also described as genocide.

Israel's army is following the so-called "General Plan" in Gaza City. A committee of retired field commanders developed this script last year, which deliberately incorporates the violation of international humanitarian law. The plan is to drive the population south through multi-week, large-scale bombing of residential areas, the use of snipers and drones, and a starvation blockade of individual neighborhoods.

Smotrich, Netanyahu, and Security Minister Ben Gvir are considered the driving forces behind the idea. Video footage released Sunday morning confirmed Army Chief Eyal Zamir's warnings of an attack on Gaza City. It shows attacks by small Hamas squads from destroyed apartment buildings, apparently injuring or killing Israeli soldiers.

A new ceasefire proposal from Qatar and Egypt is also increasing pressure on the Netanyahu camp. Cairo reported that an agreement has been reached with US mediator Steven Wittkoff on a phased plan. Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is counting on unwavering support from Washington, responded as usual on Sunday. All of this only serves Hamas, according to a brief statement from his office.