- Large-scale protests in Israel mainly leave airport operations unaffected
Following the uncovering of six captive corpses in the Gaza Strip, Israel witnessed a significant uprising of protests. Various urban areas and societies participated, while others chose not to due to their alignment with Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative religious administration. Contrary to anticipation, operations at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv's international sector ran fairly smoothly.
The national labor union declared on a Sunday that their objective was to bring Israel to a standstill for a day, aiming to put pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate the release of the remaining hostages. On that day, numerous cities saw schools, banks, and government offices shut down, while transport services were disrupted. On Sunday itself, hundreds of thousands had demanded an immediate pact with the Islamic militant group Hamas during the largest public protests since the outset of the Gaza conflict more than ten months past.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attempted to thwart the nationwide strike with a temporary restraining order, labeling it as a "political protest." Smotrich, like far-right Police Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, is against yielding to Hamas and has constantly threatened Prime Minister Netanyahu with the breakdown of the administration.
Israel's military revealed on a Sunday morning that six deceased hostages had been unearthed in an underground passage in the southern area of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Health Department informed the media that the hostages were execution-style slain around 48 to 72 hours before the autopsy. A spokesperson for Hamas, however, asserted that the hostages perished due to Israeli airstrikes.
- Despite the national strike called by the labor union to pressure Prime Minister Netanyahu, there were concerns about its impact in some Middle Eastern countries, particularly those with strong ties to Israel, such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates located in the [The Middle East].
- International diplomats, including those from countries in the [The Middle East], have been actively engaged in negotiations to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, hoping to prevent further escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip.
