Netanyahu says nationwide strike is ‘distancing the release of our hostages’
As Israelis across the country blocked roads Sunday and called for an end to the war and a hostage release deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the nationwide strike was making a ceasefire with Hamas less likely.
The remarks were met with anger from the families of hostages, who accused the prime minister of lying to the public.
“Those who call today for ending the war without defeating Hamas are not only hardening Hamas’s position and distancing the release of our hostages, they are also ensuring that the atrocities of October 7 will repeat themselves again and again, and that our sons and daughters will have to fight again and again in an endless war,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
“To make progress on the release of our hostages and to ensure that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel, we must complete the mission and defeat Hamas,” he continued, in comments released by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Netanyahu said that he remained “determined to implement” the security cabinet decision adopted earlier this month calling for the IDF to conquer Gaza City, which was the impetus for Sunday’s strike.
The general strike was organized by the October Council, which represents some family members of hostages and those killed on October 7 as well as survivors of the attack who believe the war against Hamas in Gaza must end, the hostages must be brought home, and Israel’s leadership must take accountability for failing to prevent the Hamas-led slaughter.
Israelis block the Route 1 highway near Latrun during a protest calling for the release of the hostages, August 17, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Netanyahu averred that Hamas continues to refuse Israel’s conditions for an end to the war in Gaza: “We insist not only that Hamas be disarmed, but also that Israel enforce the demilitarization of the Strip over time through continuous action against any attempt at rearmament or organization by any terror group.”
He stressed that Hamas wants Israel to exit Gaza entirely, including leaving the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border and the security perimeter around Gaza.
“This would allow Hamas to regroup, rearm, and attack us again,” said Netanyahu.
His comments echoed those of a number of ministers in his coalition, who earlier Sunday accused the protesters and strikers of sowing division and strengthening Hamas.
Hundreds of local authorities, businesses, universities, tech companies and other organizations have joined the strike or allowed employees to join if they wished to, although the Histadrut, the central labor union, declined to formally join it. Protesters blocked roads and junctions at dozens of locations across the country Sunday, with ongoing protests taking place throughout the day.
In a statement, the Hostages Families Forum — an umbrella organization that represents the majority of families of those still being held captive — accused Netanyahu of lying to the public and rejecting opportunities to bring their loved ones home.
“Netanyahu, for 22 months the hostages are languishing in Gaza — on your watch,” the group said. “Instead of deceiving the public, disseminating spin and slandering the families of hostages, bring our loved ones back in a deal and end the war.”
Protesters demanding a hostage and ceasefire deal block Begin Highway in Jerusalem on August 17, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)
The group added that “today everyone in Israel already knows that there were many opportunities to bring the hostages back. The one who torpedoed, rejected and avoided [a deal] is the one who raised the price.”
Netanyahu has consistently rejected growing claims that he declined to agree to a number of ceasefire deals that could have secured the release of the hostages at several points over the past two years. The prime minister maintains that Hamas has made impossible demands and has repeatedly walked away from the bargaining table.
“They were kidnapped from the Land of Israel under your responsibility, Netanyahu, and they have been there for 22 months,” the statement from the Hostages Forum added. “The responsibility to return them home is yours.”
The forum said that “hundreds of thousands” of people have joined Sunday’s protests and “thousands of big and small business have closed their doors to allow their workers to join the clear call: solidarity, mutual responsibility and bringing our loved ones back… the people voted today with their feet and said in one clear voice: bring the hostages and soldiers home and end the war.”
Fifty hostages remain held captive in Gaza — 49 of the 251 taken hostage on October 7 and the body of a soldier who was killed in 2014. Israeli officials have declared that 28 of them are dead, while 20 are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others.
In the first ceasefire deal in November 2023, 105 hostages were freed by Hamas, and another 30 were released in another deal in January and February 2025 alongside the bodies of eight slain hostages which were returned to Israel. Five other hostages have been freed outside of these deals, while eight have been rescued by IDF troops and the bodies of 49 captives have been recovered from Gaza throughout the war.
