Concerns grew yesterday over the chances of securing a Gaza truce, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected making any “concessions” in stalled talks toward a hostage release deal.
Netanyahu told a televised press conference at the end of a day of nationwide protests that he would “not give in to pressure” to renege on demands in indirect negotiations with Hamas to end the war, now nearing its 12th month.
Gripped by grief and fury after six dead hostages were recovered from Gaza, Israelis took to the streets on Sunday and Monday to ramp up pressure on their government to secure the release of the remaining captives.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The military said the six were all captured alive during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war, and shot dead by the captors shortly before troops had found them.
“These murderers executed six of our hostages,” said Netanyahu, who has increasingly faced accusations from critics in Israel, as well as Hamas officials and analysts, of prolonging the war for political gain.
US President Joe Biden, who on Monday met negotiators working alongside Qatar and Egypt to try to secure a truce deal, replied “no” when asked by reporters in Washington if he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to secure a hostage deal.
“I will not give in to pressure,” Netanyahu told the press conference, saying Israel must control Gaza’s border with Egypt to stop Hamas from rearming.
Israeli daily Haaretz said Netanyahu was “masking his motives with security concerns,” but said he was primarily concerned with his own political survival.
“His coalition... might unravel if a Gaza deal goes through,” it said.
Netanyahu again called for “maximum pressure on Hamas” and stated that “the achievement of the war’s objectives” requires control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border.
Adding to the pressure on Israel, Britain on Monday said it would suspend some arms exports, citing a “clear risk” they could be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law.
Meanwhile, fighting raged on in Gaza, where civil defense rescuers reported two killed, including a child, in an Israeli strike that hit a displacement camp near Khan Yunis yesterday.
The civil defense agency as well as witnesses and war correspondents reported more airstrikes and artillery shelling across southern and central Gaza.
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