Israel’s national labor union, the Histadrut, declared a national strike and thousands of Israelis took to the streets for protests that swelled following the confirmation Sunday morning of the return of six dead hostages. 

The events, set to shut down the country on Monday, threw a stark spotlight on the long-raging debate over whether Israel should be more compliant in its negotiations with Hamas, or double down on its military pressure in order to secure both the release of 101 people still being held hostage and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal of “total victory” in Israel’s 11-month war in Gaza.

IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement on Sunday that the hostages had been murdered two days prior, as Israeli military commandos grew closer to their hiding place some 20 meters below ground in a Hamas tunnel near Rafah and the border with Egypt.

“A few hours ago, we informed the families that the bodies of their loved ones had been located by IDF troops in an underground tunnel in Rafah,” said Hagari in a statement. “According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them.”

As people took to the streets in dozens of locations around the country to show their solidarity with the bereaved families and express anger over the government’s failure to return the hostages alive, Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David announced on TV that members of his union would embark on a general strike that is expected to paralyze the economy for at least a day. 

“I will not tolerate the abandonment” of the hostages,” Bar-David said. “Starting tomorrow at 6 a.m. the Israeli economy will come to a halt.” 

The Histadrut represents some 28 unions with over 800,000 members, roughly 25% of Israel’s workforce. Among those sectors expected to be shut down by the strike is the country’s Ben-Gurion Airport, which will suspend all arrivals and departures starting at 8 a.m. A number of schools and kindergartens, which returned to session on Sunday, will also be closed.

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum, which praised the Histadrut for its announcement, called earlier in the day to “stop the country,” organizing a mass rally in front of Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv Sunday evening, in addition to smaller ad-hoc demonstrations throughout the country.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant implied — soon after news of the recovery of six hostages’ bodies was cleared for publication —that decisions made by cabinet members other than himself were to blame for the murder of the hostages.

“The cabinet must gather immediately and reverse the decision made on Thursday,” Gallant said, referring to a declaration that the IDF will remain on the Philadelphi Corridor, the passageway that runs along the Gaza-Egypt border. 

The decision, which the ministers said was meant to take the corridor off of the negotiating table, was approved almost unanimously, with only Gallant opposed and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir abstaining because he opposes the negotiations entirely. 

A source in Thursday’s cabinet meeting said that Mossad chief David Barnea supported the decision, as well.

“It is too late for the hostages who were murdered in cold blood,” Gallant added. “We must bring back the hostages that are still being held by Hamas. The State of Israel will pursue all Hamas leaders and murderers.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid called on Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana to call an immediate full Knesset meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss cease-fire and hostage negotiations, saying “there is a majority for a deal in the nation and a majority for such a deal in the Knesset.”

“They were alive. Netanyahu and the cabinet of death decided not to save them. There are still living hostages, we can still make a deal. Netanyahu isn’t making one for political reasons,” Lapid argued in a separate statement.

Netanyahu released a statement saying that he was “shocked to the depths of [his] soul at the terrible murder in cold blood.” He highlighted the need to continue military operations against “a cruel enemy who wants to murder us all…The fact that Hamas continues to commit atrocities like on Oct. 7 requires us to do everything to ensure they can’t commit such atrocities again.” 

Netanyahu blamed Hamas, saying that the Iran-backed terrorist group has refused to negotiate in earnest since December and noting that Israel agreed to a U.S.-backed proposal three months ago, as well as a further proposal last month.

“Hamas continues to refuse every offer,” he added. “Whoever murders hostages doesn’t want a deal.”

Still, Netanyahu said that Israel will continue to try to negotiate “a deal that will bring back all our hostages and ensure our security and our existence.”

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum, however, interpreted Netanyahu’s statement as “blaming everyone else.”

“Take responsibility for your failures,” the forum’s statement read. “You’re the prime minister, it’s your responsibility to bring back the hostages. The spin about Philadelphi is yours. The decision to ignore the stance of the whole security establishment…is yours.”

While the masses in the streets called for a deal, others in Netanyahu’s coalition and in Israeli society took the opposite approach.

The Tikva Forum, a smaller group of hostage families, called on Netanyahu to announce that he will immediately stop negotiating and increase military pressure.

“Tonight, we received a reminder of who is our bitter enemy that we are fighting – the most despicable murderers and rapists. Human animals,” the forum stated. “At this time we strengthen the heroic soldiers of the IDF who are risking their lives to rescue hostages. We call on the people of Israel to unite and pray for the welfare of the hostages and the fighters.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in response to Gallant’s statement that “the cabinet will not allow a surrender agreement that will endanger Israel’s security. It will instruct the IDF and security establishment to exact a heavier price from Hamas and those who give it cover…and will greatly increase the force of the war until [Hamas’] destruction and the hostages are returned.” 

The IDF’s spokesman for the international media, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, said that the army remained “resolute in our mission to bring every one of [the remaining hostages] home.”

“Our initial assessment suggests that the hostages were murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before our soldiers reached their location inside the tunnel,” he said. “This tragedy underscores the critical importance of the IDF’s relentless efforts to locate and rescue the remaining 101 hostages held captive by Hamas.”

Shoshani said that the “operation to recover their bodies took place while above-ground combat was ongoing in the Rafah area.”

“Our forces discovered them in a tunnel approximately one kilometer from where Farhan Alkadi was rescued just days earlier,” he said, referring to the Israeli hostage that was rescued from Gaza last week.

“The big question is what price Hamas will pay for what they did to the hostages,” said Brig. Gen. (retired) Amir Avivi, CEO of the Israel Defense and Security Forum. 

“There are two ways of looking at it,” he continued. “One way is saying they killed our hostages, so let’s surrender and give them what they want… Let’s withdraw and let them weaponize again.”

“The other way to look at it is to make sure they pay a heavy price for what they did,” continued Avivi. “The government needs to say, what that price is, what are they going to do? What is the price Hamas will pay for what they did?”

“I think that all of Israeli society expects the government to do something now,” he said. “And it is time for the government to explain to the Israeli people what its red lines are, what are they going to do to punish Hamas for what they did, or will they surrender to their [Hamas’] demands?”

“These are the two choices we have, and this is the discussion that Israeli society is having,” said Avivi. “What is the strategy?”