Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked for forgiveness from the families of six hostages recently killed in Gaza, amid growing criticism for his failure to reach a deal with Hamas to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
“I have told the families, and I say it again this evening, that I ask for their forgiveness for not being able to bring them back alive. We were so close, but we didn't,” Netanyahu said at a news conference on Monday. From CNN Translated.
The Israeli leader said his country “will not ignore this massacre” and vowed that Hamas “will pay a heavy price” for the dead.
“We are going to demand a heavy price from Hamas. I won't say what the price will be or what we will do. There will be an element of surprise,” Netanyahu said at a press conference, according to CNN.
The Israeli army confirmed Sunday that it had found the bodies of six hostages in the Gaza Strip, including Hersh Goldberg Pollin, of Berkeley, Calif. Israeli health and military officials said the hostages were shot at close range and died Thursday or Friday before troops arrived in an underground tunnel in Rafah.
The recovery of the bodies sparked large-scale protests in Israel on Sunday and Monday, with tens of thousands of Israelis publicly calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages after negotiations have dragged on for months.
Israel's largest trade union, the Histadrut, has called for a general strike on Monday in response.
Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7 took some 250 hostages and killed more than 1,100. About 100 of the hostages were released during a week-long ceasefire late last year.
Israel's retaliatory operations to eliminate the threat from Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States, have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians since early October and forced hundreds of thousands of civilians from their homes in the Gaza Strip, according to local and international health officials.
President Biden said Monday that Netanyahu has not done enough to secure a hostage agreement, telling reporters that mediators are “very close” to presenting a final hostage agreement to both Israel and Hamas this week.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that efforts to free the hostages were “ongoing relentlessly” and claimed Hamas “rejects real negotiations.”
Hamas, meanwhile, claims it has offered to release the hostages in exchange for an end to the fighting, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the release of some Palestinian prisoners, the Associated Press reported.
