Israel protests alarm Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is concerned about the mass protests taking place in the country, an Israeli official told CNN. Hundreds of thousands of people are on the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv demanding a hostage deal with Hamas after the bodies of six people, including Russian Alexander Lobanov, were found in the Gaza Strip.

Around 700,000 people took part in the protests in Israel . According to the Hostage Families Forum, more than 500,000 protesters gathered in Tel Aviv.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Lobanov’s body was discovered in Gaza alongside the bodies of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Carmel Gat, and Ori Danino.

IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Sunday that the hostages were killed by Hamas shortly before the IDF’s arrival.

Thousands of people gathered outside the parliament building in Jerusalem as the security cabinet held an emergency meeting there. The demonstrators tried to disrupt the meeting by making noise and promised to return on September 2 to continue disrupting the work of the country’s leadership.

The Histadrut trade union center, which represents most of the country’s unions, called for a mass strike in Israel on Monday. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on the attorney general’s office to use injunctions to prevent the planned nationwide strike.

Earlier, the media reported that Israel asked Russia for support in resolving the issue of hostages in the Gaza Strip. In order to free them, the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a military secretary to Moscow. Russia, in turn, communicated with Hamas regarding the fate of the hostages, who have Russian citizenship.