The October Council — a group formed in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel — has called on all Israelis to join a general strike on Aug. 17 to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to take over Gaza City. Israeli universities, municipalities, high-tech companies, restaurants and other businesses have already pledged to support their personnel in joining the strike.

Why now? The October Council was founded by family members of hostages, relatives of victims from the Oct. 7 massacre and survivors. The group demands the government establish an independent inquiry commission to investigate the failures that allowed the Hamas assault to occur. Since its formation, the council has pressured the government to negotiate with Hamas for the safe release of hostages held in Gaza.

In recent months, the Israeli military has avoided entering Gaza City and the refugee camps at the heart of the Gaza Strip — Nuseirat, al-Bureij and Deir al-Balah — where it believes Hamas is hiding hostages. Eyal Zamir, the Israeli armed forces chief of staff, has warned Netanyahu and his security cabinet that launching an operation to seize these areas could put hostages’ lives at serious risk. Zamir also cautioned against the massive humanitarian crisis that could result from the forced displacement of 800,000 to 1 million Gaza City residents. Additionally, he noted that after 22 months of intense combat, the army is overstretched and ill-equipped for such a large-scale operation.

The upcoming strike adds to other forms of opposition to the plan to take over Gaza City, including mass protests outside the Knesset in Jerusalem and across Israeli cities on Thursday night while the security cabinet was deliberating the operation. Last week, over 600 former security commanders and ambassadors sent a letter to President Donald Trump, urging him to pressure Netanyahu to end the Gaza war. On Tuesday, active and reserve Israeli air force pilots demonstrated outside the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, protesting the government's decision to expand the fighting in Gaza despite Zamir’s objections.