Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Sunday night and a general strike was called amid an eruption of public outrage over the government’s handling of the war in Gaza after the deaths of six hostages being held deep underground by Hamas. The discovery of the hostages’ bodies in Gaza over the weekend threatened to bring deep divisions over the war to breaking point. An estimated 100,000 protested in Tel Aviv, while others demonstrated in Jerusalem as pressure on the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to reach a ceasefire deal to bring the remaining hostages home reached a new peak. The first general strike since March last year is expected to bring large parts of Israel’s economy to a halt on Monday. Government and municipal offices were due to close, as well as schools and many private businesses. Israel’s international airport, Ben Gurion, is due to shut down at 8am local time (0600 BST) for an unknown period. Israel’s health ministry said a forensic examination of the bodies showed the hostages had been “murdered by Hamas terrorists in a number of shots at close range” 48 to 72 hours before they were found. However, the findings pointing to Hamas executions did little to deflect widespread fury towards Netanyahu and his rightwing coalition for failing to agree a US-backed hostages-for-peace deal with Hamas, which has been on the negotiating table since late May. Announcing the general strike, the leader of the Histadrut trade union federation, Arnon Bar-David, said: “It is impossible to stand by any more and look the other way as our children are murdered in the tunnels of Gaza." “We are no longer one country. This must be stopped. The state of Israel must be returned to normal. We are getting body bags instead of a deal. Dalia Cusnir’s two brothers-in-law, Eitan and Yair Horn, were abducted that day and are still in Gaza. "We’re done talking,” Cusnir said. “Our family members who are being held hostage cannot wait any more, and the government is clearly not doing anything to promote a deal.” She was dismissive of the government’s claim that keeping hold of the Philadelphi corridor was a strategic necessity for Israel. Amir Tsarfati: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to criticism Monday from President Joe Biden by saying that pressuring Israel, in the wake of Hamas’s murder of six hostages, will only encourage Hamas to kill more hostages. Against those Israeli military leaders and officials who suggested Israel could afford to withdraw from the corridor for the first six weeks of a proposed hostage deal, Netanyahu said there was no such thing as a “temporary” withdrawal. International pressure, he said, would prevent Israel from taking back the corridor once it had given it up. “This thing [giving up the Philadelphi Corridor] will not bring back the hostages — quite the opposite,” Netanyahu concluded. Netanyahu then addressed the criticism from President Biden, who said earlier Monday that Netanyahu was not doing enough to achieve a deal. Without addressing Biden directly, Netanyahu read quotes from senior American officials who had been saying for months that Israel had accepted the terms of a proposed deal, and that Hamas had not. There would be a deal, he said, when Hamas realized Israel was united on existential issues like Philadelphi. Later, when he was asked a question in English, Netanyahu repeated the quotes from American officials, and added: What has changed in the last five days? What has changed? One thing: these murderers executed six of our hostages. They shot them in the back of the head. That’s what changed. And now, after this, we’re asked to show seriousness? We’re asked to make concessions? What message does this send Hamas? It says, kill more hostages, murder more hostages, you’ll get more concessions. The pressure, internationally, must be directed at these killers — at Hamas, not at Israel. We say yes, they say no all the time — but they also murdered these people. And now we need maximum pressure on Hamas. I don’t believe that either President Biden or anyone serious about achieving peace, and achieving the release [of the hostages], would seriously ask Israel to make these concessions. We’ve already made them. Hamas has to make the concessions. Asked when residents of Israel’s northern communities — tens of thousands of whom have been evacuated due to rocket attacks by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon — could return home, Netanyahu said that it would require a change in the security situation, hinting at possible war. Israel has said that it wants Hezbollah to comply with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, move north of the Litani River, and stop attacking Israel. If diplomacy fails, Israel has said it is prepared to go to war in Lebanon. Amir Tsarfati, Sept 3: Yesterday, 79 years ago, Japan surrendered to the Allies and thus ended World War II. The biggest war in human history, with approximately 70 million casualties, including 6 million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust, changed the world from end to end. The global hope was that its end would bring world peace. But after only a few years of peace, the Cold War began to take hold between the two victorious powers. The end of major wars also bring aftershocks in the form of local wars (the war of independence of Indonesia and Vietnam, the Iron Curtain in Europe, the civil war in China, etc.), which indicates that many ends still remain open. In the situation we are in today, and having learned from history, "the day after" remains up to the winner. But just like then, even today the aftershocks are expected to arrive. The wisdom is to prepare for them in advance, and the ground must be prepared for a future that will preserve the security of the State of Israel for decades to come. “Starmer's decision is appalling. To play politics with Israel's security on a day they bury their dead is as saddening as it is disgraceful. It’s clear that the Prime Minister doesn’t have the courage to stand up to our enemies, whether that’s Putin or Hamas. Just like on the deportation of foreign offenders, Sir Keir is more afraid by the militant left wingers in his own party than those who pose a direct threat to our national security. Amir Tsarfati's Special Update: [Starts at about the 4-minute mark. Lasts 26 minutes.] https://www.youtube.com/live/4Z8VdsCXfNI 
Protests in Israel and strike called amid eruption of outrage over Gaza war:
Netanyahu Answers Biden’s Criticism: ‘What Message Does This Send Hamas? It Says, Kill More Hostages’:
(Ben Zion Mecheles)
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Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticizes the decision in London to halt security shipments to Israel:
"Hamas is still holding innocent Jewish hostages while Israel is trying to prevent a repeat of the October 7 massacre.
Why are Foreign Secretary Lammy and Prime Minister Starmer abandoning Israel? Do they want Hamas to win?"
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Former UK Home Secretary Priti Patel slams the British Prime Minister for cancelling arms shipments to Israel.
This decision is purely for the purposes of internal Labour politics and is a total capitulation to his hard-left Labour MPs.
This shocking betrayal of a key UK ally is a terrible indication of the UK’s approach to national security under this weak Prime Minister.”
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Britain's Daily Telegraph: Labour's arms boycott is a shameful betrayal of a heroic ally. "To impose sanctions on the grounds of harming innocents a day after Hamas murdered six innocents is satire at its best."
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https://t.me/s/beholdisraelchannel