Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the families of six hostages whose bodies were recovered over the weekend for forgiveness.
At a press conference on Monday night, he said:
“I told the families, and I repeat and say this evening: I am asking for your forgiveness that we didn’t manage to bring them back alive. We were very close but we couldn’t make it.”
He vowed consequences for Hamas, saying, “I repeat tonight, Israel is not going to ignore this massacre. Hamas will pay a heavy price for this — a very heavy price.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum praised US President Joe Biden’s comment that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.
“The Hostages Families Forum commends President Biden and his administration for their actions and determination to secure the release of all 101 hostages. We urge Prime Minister Netanyahu to demonstrate similar resilience, determination, and commitment to the lives of the hostages,” a spokesperson for the families forum said in a statement Monday.
“If we needed further proof that Netanyahu is thwarting the return of the hostages – we got it from the US president,” the spokesperson said in a separate statement released in Hebrew.
The families forum also condemned Netanyahu’s comments that Israeli forces should remain in the Philadelphi corridor during the first phase of a potential hostage and ceasefire deal.
More background: The Philadelphi corridor is a 14-kilometer (8.7-mile) strip of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt that the Israeli military currently controls.
The presence of Israeli troops along the corridor has been a major point of contention in ceasefire and hostage negotiations with Hamas.
Israel has demanded control of the border zone in the first phase of a deal, while Hamas has said Israeli troops must withdraw.
