Hostage deaths could pile pressure on Netanyahu to agree Gaza ceasefire

Overnight, the rumours spread: the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had found bodies in Gaza. Everyone in Israel knew the corpses were likely to be hostages seized on 7 October. The grim details – how many, their identities, and how and when they died – slowly emerged during the early hours of Sunday, to mounting sorrow and fury across the country.

The bodies of six people kidnapped alive by Hamas – Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sgt Ori Danino – were found in a Rafah tunnel 20 metres underground, a kilometre away from where another hostage, Qaid Farhan Alkadi, was found in relatively decent health last week. Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American citizen, appeared in a Hamas video in April. It was clear from the footage that his left hand had been amputated.

Initial autopsies indicated that all six had died from shots to the head and had otherwise been in frail but stable condition, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported. The IDF said it believed the hostages were killed on Friday or Saturday, shortly before troops arrived at the location, to prevent their rescue.

It is too early to tell yet, but anger at their deaths could be the spark that reinvigorates the protest movement in Israel calling for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, as well as calls for new elections aimed at toppling the rightwing government of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The longtime Israeli leader has been repeatedly accused of stalling on a ceasefire deal for his own political gain.

After something of a summer lull, this Saturday night’s protests across Israel for a ceasefire and hostage deal drew larger numbers than recent weeks. Demonstrators were already galvanised by the recovery two weeks ago of the bodies of another six hostages , five of whom were previously known to be dead, and the stalling ceasefire talks. Public support for a deal remains high.

The last cabinet meeting on Thursday reportedly ended in a shouting match between the prime minister and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, after the assembled ministers doubled down on Netanyahu’s demand that Israel must retain control of the Gaza-Egypt border, a big sticking point in ceasefire talks.

Einav Zangauker, whose 24-year-old son, Matan, is being held captive, accused Netanyahu of “murdering” the hostages still in Gaza. “He’s decided to sentence them to death. He’s decided to give them up. He’s decided to bury them in the rubble of his politics. He is committing a crime against his own people,” she told the crowd in Tel Aviv before the news of the most recent deaths broke.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a statement calling on the public to prepare for widespread protests on Sunday. “Starting tomorrow, the country will shake … The abandonment is over,” it said.

On Sunday, hundreds of people gathered outside the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem, protesting in favour of a deal, and mass rallies are expected across the country in the evening. Strikes are also on the cards, the first such large-scale action so far of the 11-month-old war.

The mayors of Tel Aviv and nearby Givatayim announced that the municipalities would be striking on Monday to demand the return of the hostages, and more are expected to follow suit.

The Histadrut, Israel’s biggest trade union, has declared a general strike from 6am on Monday after calls from the families of hostages and Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid.

This action from the labour movement is decisive – it will mean Tel Aviv airport, the only major route in and out of the country, will be closed, and could also affect hospitals and other public services, costing the economy millions of shekels.

The Histadrut has not taken such drastic action since March 2023, when Netanyahu tried to fire Gallant over his opposition to the government’s controversial judicial overhaul plans. It worked: Netanyahu was forced to reverse his decision, and the proposed changes to the judiciary were delayed until the Knesset’s summer session.

Economic pressure was employed successfully against Netanyahu last year, but since 7 October the prime minister has become more desperate than ever to cling to power. If the protesters’ goal is to bring down his government, change will still need to come from within. Netanyahu’s coalition has a majority of four seats; five members of the government would have to desert their leader in order to force new elections.