Daily life ground to a halt for many Israelis on Monday as a nationwide general strike swept across the country.

Scheduled to run from Monday morning until early evening, the strike organized by Israel’s largest labor union Histadrut reflects growing dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the ongoing war in Gaza, particularly his failure to secure a peace deal before six October 7 hostages were killed over the weekend.

Ben Gurion International Airport was the first to feel the strike’s impact, where flights were halted for over two hours starting at 8 a.m. local time. Meanwhile, government ministries operated on skeleton crews, hospitals scaled back to emergency services, and universities shuttered most operations. While elementary schools remained open, a lack of support staff caused widespread disruptions.

“I have come to the conclusion that only our intervention can shake those who need to be shaken. A deal is not progressing due to political considerations and this is unacceptable,” Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David said in a statement.

With severe economic repercussions on the line, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich is reportedly appealing to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara for an immediate injunction against the strike. However, with officials describing a new urgency to reach an agreement, it’s unlikely Israel’s labor union will back down in its efforts until all the hostages are back home safely.

The strike comes after tens of thousands took to Israel’s streets on Sunday in one of the biggest nationwide demonstrations since the war’s outbreak. In Jerusalem, demonstrators converged on the prime minister’s residence while in Tel Aviv activists blocked highways and waved banners memorializing the slain hostages.