Image source, Getty Images

• Several sectors across Israel are being affected by a general strike called to demand that the government agrees a deal to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas
• Roads have been blocked by activists as businesses, banks, schools and airports face disruption
• The stoppage is due to end at 18:00 local time (16:00 BST)

• The action was called by Histadrut - one of the country's most powerful unions
• The government is taking legal action to block the strike, which it says is political

Arnon Bar-David, the head of the union Histadrut that called the general strike, says the stoppage will now end at 18:00 local time (16:00 BST) today, according to Israeli media reports.

Initially the strike action was due to run into tomorrow morning.

Earlier, we ran through some of the sectors taking part in today's strike. Here's some more detail:

Some cities and municipalities have announced they won't be taking part in the action, but in several Israeli districts services have been affected.

Many hospitals are operating reduced services and banks are closed, but certain private businesses remain open. Reuters also reports that some employers were allowing staff to join the strike.

Suitcases are "piling up" at Ben Gurion Airport, Histadrut union boss Peter Lerner tells the BBC's Newsday programme, with some some flight departures suspended this morning.

Bus and light rail services in some areas have been either cancelled or running reduced services.

Workers at the country's main commercial port in Haifa are also striking today, with Lerner adding that some are "slowing their activity".

"We're just at the beginning of this work day and we already see that the government is trying to challenge it in the courts," he adds.

"We are looking forward to a very interesting day of fighting for Israel."

Image source, Getty Images

On 7 October last year, Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from Gaza - the deadliest in Israel's history.

Waves of fighters stormed across Gaza's border into Israel. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. A total of 97 captives remain unaccounted for.

The Israeli military responded by launching a ground and air offensive in Gaza to destroy Hamas.

In Gaza, more than 40,000 people have been killed since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

• Read more here about Hamas and why it is fighting with Israel in Gaza

Image source, EPA

The international division chief of Histadrut - the trade union behind today's general strike in Israel - says a general strike was "required".

Speaking to the BBC's Newsday programme, Peter Lerner says "the need for unity not division in our society and the requirements to restore the safety and security to people of Israel, and the internally displaced people here in Israel, required a general strike".

Activists are currently blocking roads across the country, with businesses, schools and travel among the sectors currently disrupted.

Those on strike are calling for the government to secure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas.

As the general strike continues, Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz says the country will "respond with full force" following the recovery of the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In a post on X, Katz blames Hamas for their deaths, saying they were "brutally executed... to instil fear and attempt to fracture Israeli society".

The Israel Defense Forces says the bodies were found in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza on Saturday, and they had been killed shortly before troops arrived.

Hamas insists Israel is responsible for their deaths, as it has refused to sign a ceasefire deal.

Image source, EPA

Meanwhile in Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry says medical teams successfully vaccinated 72,611 children against polio yesterday.

Sunday saw the first in a series of "humanitarian pauses" in fighting, to allow children to be vaccinated against the virus.

The drive comes after UN officials said a 10-month-old baby is partially paralysed after contracting polio - Gaza's first recorded case in 25 years.

Humanitarian groups say the virus has re-emerged as the war between Israel and Hamas has disrupted child vaccination programmes and caused damage to water and sanitation systems.

• The vaccine drive is continuing today - you can read more about how it works here

Image source, Family handout

Both of Sharone Lifschitz's parents were abducted and taken into Gaza by Hamas during the attacks on 7 October. Her mother, Yocheved, was freed just under a month later, but her father remains in captivity.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Lifschitz says the discovery of the bodies of six hostages in Gaza is "what we have been frightened of all this time".

She says she welcomes the protests across Israel in response, and calls on the Netanyahu government "to look beyond the narrow interest of their own political parties and their own survival" to agree to a deal that would see the remaining hostages returned.

"Stop this ongoing senseless war and let's work towards a long term way of moving forward so the people of this region can look forward to a future," she says.

Image source, EPA

Among the businesses that had announced they would be impacted by the strike today was Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv.

Yesterday, it said that the airport would close to departing flights between 08:00 and 10:00 local time (06:00 to 08:00 BST)

However, the airport's website greeted visitors this morning with a banner that said the airport was operating as normal.

Flight trackers show some flights being delayed, some being diverted and others taking off relatively on time.

Image source, EPA

As protests continue, Israeli media is reporting that the state has filed an injunction with the National Labour Court against a general strike.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich contacted Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Sunday requesting a petition for an injunction. It appears she approved the request on Monday, according to Haaretz.

The Regional Labour Court will hear a request for injunctions at 10:30 local time (08:30 BST) submitted by the Gevurah Forum, which opposes the hostage deal.

Gevurah Forum's request states "this is clearly a political strike, blatantly illegal, carried out in a bullying manner".

The father of one of the hostages still held in Gaza tells the BBC he hopes the protests and strike could be a "watershed moment" for the Israeli government.

Jonathan Dekel-Chen's son, Sagui, was taken hostage during the 7 October attack on Israel.

He says it has become "increasingly clear" to him over the past few months that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition government are "sacrificing" any chance of securing the return of hostages in "the name of some fantastical idea of total victory over Hamas".

Dekel-Chen says he hopes the government will now see it's "time to do the right thing".

Asked how he copes with his son still being held captive, Dekel-Chen says he gets up every morning with a mission: "To get my son... back to his three little daughters".

A general strike is now under way in Israel.

It is unclear how widely the stoppage will be observed, after several cities and municipalities announced they would not take part.

In some regions across Israel, the following sectors and organisations will take part in the strike:

• Businesses, banks and a number of government ministries

• The Israel Business Forum, which represents workers from hundreds of Israel's largest private sector companies
• Elementary and middle schools will only open until 11:45 local time (09:45 BST)
• Hospitals and health clinics will run at a reduced capacity
• Transport disruption is expected, as three major bus companies - Egged, Dan and Metropolin - take part, roads are blocked and a temporary closure affects Ben Gurion airport

We mentioned in our last post that a forum representing some of the families of hostages in Gaza has called for further protests today.

We can bring you more detail on that now.

Posting on X, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum announced more than a dozen protest locations around the country.

These are mostly major roads and intersections around Tel Aviv and the north, where protesters plan to block traffic.

The protests are a continuation of those seen yesterday in Israel, in which thousands took to the streets to call for the government to accept a deal that would see the remaining hostages returned to Israel.

Jon Donnison
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

After last night’s protests - the biggest seen in Israel since the start of the war, with hundreds of thousands demonstrating across the country - today comes a general strike.

Thousands of businesses will be closed, some schools, universities, and government ministries.

A forum representing some hostage families has called for more protests across Israel today with plans to block the country’s busiest roads.

The outrage at Hamas is a given. But these protests are not about that. The anger is directed at the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is accused of blocking a ceasefire and hostage release deal to prioritise his own personal political survival.

After the latest discovery of the bodies of six hostages, some families say he has their loved ones’ blood on his hands. At last night’s protests there were chants of “murderer”.

Netanyahu rejects this. He says it is Hamas which is blocking a deal and insists they will be pursued and brought to account.

Image source, Reuters

On Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it found the bodies of six hostages in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area of southern Gaza.

The hostages were identified as Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sgt Ori Danino.

The IDF said they had been killed shortly before its troops reached them, however Hamas says they were killed in an Israeli attack.

Their discovery triggered widespread protests, with crowds accusing the government and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally of failing to save the remaining hostages.

As we mentioned earlier, today's general strike follows a night of huge protests.

Tens of thousands rallied yesterday in major cities across Israel to protest what is seen as the government's failure to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.

The protests were largely peaceful, but some protesters broke through police lines and blocked a major highway in Tel Aviv.

Others set fires on the road and draped yellow ribbons - a sign of solidarity with the hostages.

In Jerusalem, a huge crowd gathered outside the prime minister's office.

"We hope that those who make the decisions will wake up," said Eli Shtivi, whose son Idan is currently being held hostage in Gaza.

"We don't have time any more".

Histadrut - one of the country's most powerful unions - announced the one-day strike yesterday, to put pressure on the government to bring back the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Union leader Arnon Bar-David said a deal to return the surviving hostages "is more important than anything else".

"We are getting body bags instead of a deal," he said.

The action is expected to impact transport lines, various businesses and schools.

It remains unclear how widely the action will be observed, after several cities and municipalities announced they would not take part.

Image source, Reuters

A nationwide general strike is set to begin this morning in Israel, after a night of protests over what is seen as the government's failure to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.

Tensions have been high since the bodies of six hostages were recovered on Saturday.

Tens of thousands of people rallied across Israel yesterday, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not doing enough to reach a deal for the release of those that remain captive.

Stay with us for updates and analysis.

We're pausing our live coverage, but you can follow the latest developments here.

• Protests are underway in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem with plans for a general strike tomorrow
• It comes after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recovered the bodies of six hostages in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza

• Protesters are urging the government to reach a deal with Hamas to release those held in Gaza

• Israel's health ministry said "close-range gunshots" killed the six hostages
• Earlier, Netanyahu said Israel will not "rest" until it catches those responsible. He said this morning "whoever murders hostages - does not want a deal". Senior Hamas officials said that Israel, in its refusal to sign a ceasefire agreement, was to blame

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Tel Aviv

On the edge of the protest I’ve just been speaking to 24-year-old Yotam Peer, whose 21-year-old brother was killed on 7 October.

This is the first time since the war that he has attended a demonstration.

“After we heard about the six hostages we couldn’t be silent anymore. It’s really important. We don’t have a choice anymore,” he says, adding “it’s exceeded the limit.”

Like others here, he says he wants prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down and for a deal to be struck to bring the hostages home.

Next to Yotam, a line of policemen on horseback are watching the protesters.