Hostage families urge ‘nationwide shutdown’ to end war, free captives

Families of hostages held in the Gaza Strip are calling for an August 17 nationwide shutdown to demand the return of all captives and an end to the war.

By World Israel News Staff

Families of hostages and some relatives of victims murdered in the October 7 massacres are calling for a nationwide shutdown next Sunday, August 17, demanding a comprehensive hostage deal that would free all captives still held in the Gaza Strip and end the war against Hamas.

“We will all pause next Sunday and say, ‘Enough, stop the war, return the hostages.’ It is in our hands,” said Reut Recht-Edri, whose son Ido was murdered at the Nova Festival, during a Tel Aviv press conference announcing the day of protest.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum’s call for mass demonstrations, including a nationwide strike, is not supported by the Histadrut, Israel’s largest labor union.

With some 800,000 members, a Histadrut strike could paralyze the country. However, in 2024, the Supreme Court barred the union from calling strikes of a political nature.

The court ruled that pressuring the government into a hostage deal or withdrawing from Gaza was inherently political and therefore illegal for the Histadrut to support.

Anat Angrest, mother of IDF soldier Matan, who was kidnapped from a base near the Gaza border on October 7th, said an incursion into Gaza City would endanger her son’s life.

She claimed six hostages murdered last July in a tunnel were killed by their Hamas captors because they believed the IDF was closing in on them.

“The government decided to occupy the Gaza Strip and send soldiers to come closer to Matan. They are trying to bring him back but in practice are endangering him,” Angrest said.

On Saturday evening, around 10,000 Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square to demand an end to the war and a sweeping hostage deal.

The rally came shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans for a temporary occupation of Gaza City — a move criticized by right-wing coalition partners, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who argue temporary incursions will not deliver a decisive victory over Hamas.