Israel's main labor union calls general strike on Monday

The head of Israel's Histadrut labour union called for a general strike beginning at 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Monday to pressure the government into reaching a deal to return Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.

Arnon Bar-David, whose union represents hundreds of thousands of workers, called on all civilian workers to join the strike and said Ben Gurion Airport, Israel's main air transport hub, would be closed from 8 a.m. (0500 GMT).

Bar-David said that for now, the strike would just be for Monday but he sharply criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government for failing to bring hostages back alive. A dozen bodies of hostages have been brought back to Israel in the past week. Some 101 still remain, although Israel believes one-third of them are no longer alive.

"The neglect of the economy must be stopped," Bar-David said at a news conference. "Israel must be returned to a reasonable routine... We must reach a deal. A deal is more important than anything else.

"We are getting body bags instead of a deal."