Relatives and supporters of Israeli captives taken by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, raise flags and placards as they protest outside the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on September 1, 2024, after Israel announced its troops had found six dead captives in a Gaza tunnel. AFP
The call came after the Israeli military found the bodies of six captives in a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, sparking outrage and anger among their families.
Campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said it calls on the "public to join a massive demonstration, demanding a complete halt of the country and the immediate implementation of a deal to release the captives".
It urged Israelis to demonstrate in Tel Aviv later on Sunday and asked the country's powerful Histadrut union to participate in the strike.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid also called for a "general strike".
"They were alive but (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and his cabinet of death decided not to save them," he wrote on his Facebook page.
"There are still hostages alive. We can still make a deal."
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called on the government to reverse a decision to keep Israeli forces along the Philadelphi Corridor along the border with Egypt, a key sticking point in negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire.
"The cabinet must gather immediately and reverse the decision made on Thursday," Gallant said.
"We must bring back the captives that Hamas is still holding."
Several businesses announced measures to support the captives' families, including cinema chain Lev and restaurants which said they would close in solidarity on Sunday evening.
Families and friends of the captives have been holding weekly demonstrations against the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the war started on October 7.
The Palestinian resistance groups seized 251 captives during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza.
Vowing to eliminate Hamas, Israel has launched a brutal military campaign in the Gaza Strip that so far has killed at least 40,738 people, with another over 94,154 people wounded, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Most of those killed however are women and children, according to the UN human rights office.
* This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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