Schools, offices and airport had closed after trade union said general strike was needed to ‘shake those who need to be shaken’ over inaction

Israel’s first nationwide general strike since the Hamas attacks of 7 October, which was convened in support of a deal to free hostages held in Gaza, has ended after eight hours with a court order for workers to go back to their jobs.

The strike was organised amid widespread public anger at the government’s handling of the war in Gaza after the discovery of the bodies of six hostages at the weekend.

Discovery of six bodies may trigger renewed protests as anger grows over prime minister’s handling of the crisis

Overnight, the rumours spread: the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had found bodies in Gaza. Everyone in Israel knew the corpses were likely to be hostages seized on 7 October. The grim details – how many, their identities, and how and when they died – slowly emerged during the early hours of Sunday, to mounting sorrow and fury across the country.

The bodies of six people kidnapped alive by Hamas – Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sgt Ori Danino – were found in a Rafah tunnel 20 metres underground, a kilometre away from where another hostage, Qaid Farhan Alkadi, was found in relatively decent health last week. Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American citizen, appeared in a Hamas video in April. It was clear from the footage that his left hand had been amputated.