Netanyahu: No one serious about peace should pressure Israel to meet Hamas’s demands
Benjamin Netanyahu says he doesn’t believe that “President Biden or anyone serious about achieving peace” would pressure Israel to accept Hamas’s demands after the killing of the six hostages in Gaza.
Speaking in English for the only time during the news conference, he says: “These murderers executed six of our hostages, they shot them in the back of the head… now, after this, we’re asked to show seriousness? We’re asked to make concessions?
“What message does this send to Hamas? It says kill more hostages, murder more hostages. You’ll get more concessions.”
“The pressure internationally must be directed at these killers,” says Mr Netanyahu.
He also says the end of the war will come when Hamas no longer rules Gaza.
The news conference with the Israeli leader has now ended.
Netanyahu says he is ‘like a bear’ in hostage talks and working ’24/7′ on deal
Israel’s leader says he has been “like a bear” in negotiations and is “fighting with everything I can” to achieve a deal to release hostages.
Benjamin Netanyahu says he works “24/7” and sleeps for only a few hours a night.
“I am looking for every way, every possibility in order to bring them back home,” he says.
He tells the news conference that he is insisting on bringing back as many live hostages from Gaza as possible, but claims he hasn’t “seen anything from Hamas”.
“I’m fighting over this with everything I can,” says Mr Netanyahu.
“I’m not going to criticise the bereaved families who think otherwise because I’ve been there like a bear.”
Israel leaving ‘element of surprise’ over ‘heavy price’ Hamas will pay, says Netanyahu
Taking questions from the media, Benjamin Netanyahu repeats that Hamas will “pay a heavy price” in the future for the killing of Israeli citizens.
“We’re working on it. I’m not going to tell you what that price is and when we’re going to do it, I’d like to leave an element of surprise,” he tells a journalist at the news conference in Tel Aviv.
He says Israel is not taking its foot “off the throat” of Hamas.
Netanyahu denies ‘personal responsibility’ over hostage deaths
The Israeli prime minister is next asked whether he has “personal responsibility” for the deaths of the six hostages in Gaza, due to his position on the Philadelphi corridor (more in our 18.26 post).
“I feel profound sorrow, I truly regret the fact that we didn’t bring them [back],” Benjamin Netanyahu says. “We were so close.”
However he denies that they were killed due to Israel’s insistence on keeping control over the strategic corridor.
“It happened because Hamas doesn’t want a deal,” he says.
Mr Netanyahu says he won’t place himself in a “trap” that won’t bring back hostages but will “create huge strategic problems”.
Israeli PM taking questions – and says he doesn’t believe Biden made deal comments
Benjamin Netanyahu is taking questions from journalists gathered at the news conference.
He is asked about Joe Biden’s comments that he is not “doing enough” to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.
He says he doesn’t believe that the US president really made those comments.
Mr Biden made the remarks to reporters as he arrived at the White House earlier before a meeting with the hostage negotiation team – you can watch here:
Netanyahu asks for ‘forgiveness’ over hostage deaths – but doubles down against Hamas
Beginning his statement, Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel “must stand united as one” as it faces a “brutal and vicious enemy” that wants to “eradicate and kill all of us”.
In a news conference from Tel Aviv, as a huge protest takes place in the city, the Israeli prime minister said he has spoken on the phone with families of the six hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza at the weekend.
Here’s a summary of his speech:
- Netanyahu asked for “forgiveness” that the six hostages were not brought home alive, saying: “We were close, but we didn’t achieve it”;
- He said the Hamas militant group would “pay a very heavy price” for the “massacre” of Israeli people;
- The Israeli leader said Israel’s goals were to eradicate Hamas, bring back the remaining hostages, make sure Gaza “no longer poses a threat over Israel” and to let people living in northern Israel return to their homes;
- Mr Netanyahu said Israel “must have control” over the Philadelphi corridor, a narrow strip of land which runs along the southern Gaza border with Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.
- Demonstrating the situation with charts, and explaining some of the history behind the strategic corridor, the prime minister said it will “determine our entire future and has tremendous importance for us”, and described it as “Hamas’s lifeline”;
- “The axis of evil needs the Philadelphi corridor,” the prime minister said, referring to Hamas – as he suggested that without Israeli control over the land, the militant group could continue attacking his country;
- He said that Israel has made its position on the corridor “clear” during ceasefire negotiations – but claimed that Hamas would “not budge” on the issue;
- Mr Netanyahu said he was “flexible” but there were “certain things we won’t compromise on”. He accused Hamas of using “tactics” to make Israel “succumb” to its demands;
- “They want to split us apart, they want to break us down. They are relying on an internal rift. They think that the majority of Israelis will follow this and they’re wrong,” he said.
Netanyahu to hold news conference shortly
We’re expecting to hear from Benjamin Netanyahu in a news conference shortly as protests across Israel pile pressure on him to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza.
Earlier, our Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall said the Israeli leader could take questions from the media during the conference – something he has rarely done during the conflict.
While he gets ready to speak, thousands of protesters are out on the streets of Tel Aviv in anger against his failure to secure a hostage deal.
We’ll bring you the key lines as they come.
Watch: Protesters block Tel Aviv highway
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets in anger after the bodies of six more hostages were discovered in Gaza on Saturday.
Some blocked a main road in Tel Aviv earlier today to protest the failure to return the remaining captives being held by Hamas.
The protest is part of a rare general strike called by Israel’s largest trade union, the Histadrut – which the country’s labour court ordered an early end to at 12.30pm UK time.
UK arms export ban disappointing and sends problematic message, Israeli minister says
The UK’s decision to suspend some arms exports to Israel sends a problematic message to Hamas and its Iranian backers, Israel’s foreign minister has said.
Israel Katz said in a statement that Israel was “disappointed by a series of decisions” by the UK government, including its move to halt some exports which it believes are intended for use in the Gaza war.
“A step of the type taken by Britain now sends a very problematic message to the terrorist organisation Hamas and its agents in Iran,” Mr Katz said.
Earlier, foreign secretary David Lammy said the government was suspending around 30 arms export licences to Israel amid concerns a “clear risk” exists that they could be used to breach international humanitarian law (see 16.28 post).
Analysis: Thousands rallying in Tel Aviv – but Netanyahu unlikely to bow to pressure
Anger has returned to the streets of Israel as a “few thousand” people rally outside the Israeli defence ministry demanding a ceasefire, says our Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall, in Tel Aviv.
“Organisers think that there’s around a half million between here and in Jerusalem out on the streets,” he says.
“I don’t know whether we’ll get similar numbers tonight [as last night] – but that speaks to how hour-by-hour this is.”
Protesters feel like they have momentum for the first time “in many months”, Bunkall says.
“They’ve been out in the streets every week in very large numbers but they think they’ve been ignored by the government.
“Well now they think that momentum is on their side, both domestically, but also internationally, buoyed by what President Biden had to say in Washington earlier.”
Bunkall says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to take questions from the media when he addresses the nation in less than an hour – something he has done very rarely during the war.
“I’ve spoken with senior aides of his to try and get a sense of what he might say, and they said he will repeat the facts and he will put forward the message he always has done.
“That doesn’t sound to me like the Israeli prime minister has any mood, to change course or that the pressure is starting to build to such an extent, that he will make different decisions,” Bunkall adds.