Israel’s Smotrich asks attorney general to submit request to courts to block strike

By Said Amori

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich filed an urgent request with the attorney general to halt a planned nationwide strike by the country’s largest labor union, Histadrut, scheduled for Monday.

In his letter to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, “Smotrich argued that a strike had no legal basis since it aimed to improperly influence significant policy decisions of politicians on issues related to state security,” Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported.

He also said that “a broad strike - which would shut the country, including outgoing flights -- has significant economic consequences which would cause unnecessary economic damage in wartime.”

Earlier in the day, Histadrut called for a general strike on Monday to pressure the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a prisoner swap deal with Palestinian factions.

The call came hours after the Israeli army said it had recovered the bodies of six Israeli hostages from the southern Gaza Strip.

The action is planned to start at 6 a.m. (0300GMT) and is currently planned as a single-day strike, with Histadrut Labor Federation chief Arnon Bar-David saying decisions beyond Monday will be made later, said The Times of Israel newspaper.

According to Israeli media, several sectors in Israel support the strike, including aviation, banks, postal services, schools and transportation, which could potentially lead to a complete shutdown of the Israeli economy.

Netanyahu denied responsibility for the deaths of the six hostages, claiming that the Palestinian group Hamas was the one refusing to participate in “genuine negotiations.”

Hamas said the six hostages were killed as a result of ongoing Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s Haaretz daily, citing an Israeli source, said three of the six hostages were supposed to be released in the first stage of a prisoner swap deal currently being negotiated.

"They appeared in the lists given over at the beginning of July. It was possible to bring them back alive," the source said.

Israel estimates that more than 100 hostages are still being held by Hamas in Gaza, some of whom are believed to have been already killed.

For months, the US, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas to ensure a prisoner exchange and cease-fire and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. But mediation efforts have been stalled due to Netanyahu’s refusal to meet Hamas’s demands to stop the war.

Israel’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 40,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 94,100 others, according to local health authorities.

An ongoing blockade of the enclave has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala