Israel mourns as bodies of six hostages recovered from Gaza

Israeli forces have recovered the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel in Southern Gaza, killed by Hamas, say the military, just moments before they were about to be rescued.

The agony of their families is quickly turning to fury. They said Prime Minister Netanyahu’s failure to strike a deal had led to the hostages’ deaths.

Now Israel’s trade union federation has joined the families in calling for a general strike tomorrow, to press the government to agree a deal that would see the remaining hostages returned.

Meanwhile in Gaza a series of localised pauses in fighting are underway, to allow the World Health Organisation to administer polio vaccines.