Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Hamas for the absence of a Gaza and hostage deal as the nation reeled from the return of the bodies of six hostages recently killed in captivity in Gaza.
“In recent days, as Israel has been holding intensive negotiations with the mediator in a supreme effort to reach a deal, Hamas is continuing to steadfastly refuse all proposals,” Netanyahu said.
“Even worse, at the exact same time, it murdered six of our hostages,” Netanyahu stated.
'Those who murder hostages - do not want a deal'
“Whoever murders hostages – does not want a deal,” Netanyahu stated.
"For our part, we will not relent. The Government of Israel is committed, and I am personally committed, to continue striving toward a deal that will return all of our hostages and ensure our security and our existence,” he said.
He recalled the first hostage deal in November that was broken by Hamas, in which 105 captives were released, stressing that since December, “Hamas refuses to conduct real negotiations.*
Netanyahu explained that three months ago, on May 27, Israel had agreed to a three-phase hostage deal that was unveiled on May 31.
“Even after the US updated the deal framework on August 16 – we agreed, and Hamas again refused,” Netanyahu stressed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning:"This is a difficult day for us.Together with all citizens of Israel, I was outraged to the depths of my soul by the horrific, cold-blooded murder of six of our hostages: pic.twitter.com/Fs8qqlhJUm
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 1, 2024
He spoke in the aftermath of an intense US push to finalize the May 31 deal under whose terms 18-33 of the hostages would have been freed during a six-week period in exchange for a lull in the Gaza war and the Israeli release of Palestinian security prisoners and terrorists.
Four of the hostages—Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi—would likely have been freed in the first phase. The other two hostages, Alexander Lobanov, and Ori Danino, would likely have been released in phase two.
The US, along with the main mediators for the deal, Qatar and Egypt, have been unable to close the gaps between the sides, including Israel’s insistence that the IDF must remain in a critical buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor.
The security cabinet voted 8-1 on Thursday night to back this position, against the advice of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who warned that it could kill the deal and that it endangered the lives of hostages.
“The cabinet must gather immediately and reverse the decision made on Thursday,” Gallant said.
“It is too late for the hostages who were murdered in cold blood. We must bring back the hostages that are still being held by Hamas,” he said.
“The State of Israel will pursue all Hamas leaders and murderers,” Gallant said.
“The cabinet must gather immediately and reverse the decision made on Thursday,” Gallant said.
“It is too late for the hostages who were murdered in cold blood. We must bring back the hostages that are still being held by Hamas,” he said.
“The State of Israel will pursue all Hamas leaders and murderers,” Gallant said.
The security cabinet is set to meet later today, and according to Army Radio, Gallant is likely to ask it to reverse Thursday's decision on the Philadelphi Corridor.
Sources indicated that the ministers in the security cabinet on Thursday felt, at the time, that all those hostages who had been killed or died in captivity had perished in the first half year of the war.
The six deceased hostages the IDF found in a tunnel under Rafah on Saturday are believed to have been killed by Palestinians in the last days.
In past weeks, Netanyahu has told the families of the captives that he was not willing to make a deal at any price.
Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) bitterly posted on X Sunday, “Netanyahu and the ‘death cabinet’ decided not to rescue the hostages. Their blood on their heads.”
Stressing that the “national can not go on like this,” he called for the country's major union, the Histadrut, to call for a general strike that would shut the country down" starting with a 7 p.m. protest by the Begin highway on Sunday night.
Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq on Sunday blamed Israel and the Biden administration for the deaths of the six hostages in a message on the group’s Telegraph page.
Those who bear “responsibility” are “the occupation which insists on continuing the genocidal war and evading reaching a ceasefire agreement, and the American administration because of its bias, support and complicity in this aggression,” he said.
“Hamas is more eager than Biden about the lives of its prisoners, which is why it agreed to his proposal in particular and to the Security Council resolution, while Netanyahu rejected them, and his administration surrendered to Netanyahu's conditions, aimed at disrupting the reaching of an agreement, in order to preserve his power,” he stated.
Netanyahu warned Hamas, “You will pay the price. We will not rest, nor will we be silent. We will pursue you, we will find you and we will settle accounts with you.
“We saw the inconceivable brutality of the Hamas murderers on October 7, and we have seen it again in the tunnels under Rafah,” he said.
“The fact that Hamas is continuing to perpetrate atrocities like those it carried out on October 7 requires us to do everything so that it will be unable to perpetrate these atrocities again,” he stressed.
To the nation in mourning, he said, "This is a difficult day for us. Together with all citizens of Israel, I was outraged to the depths of my soul by the horrific, cold-blooded murder of six of our hostages.
“Together with the entire nation, my wife and I share in the families' deep mourning,” he said.