Hamas executed the six hostages with a bullet to the neck, Benjamin Netanyahu said
Hamas threatened to return the hostages to their relatives “wrapped in shrouds” if Israel continues its military operations.
Abu Ubaidan, the spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, said the group had issued new instructions to guards on how to handle the hostages if Israeli forces approached their locations in the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday the Israeli army recovered six dead hostages from a tunnel in Rafah and blamed Hamas for their deaths. Ubaidah, for his part, responded that the organization blames Israel.
According to the spokesman, the new instructions, which he did not specify, were given to the hostage guards after the operation to rescue four people by Israeli forces in June. In that operation the army freed the hostages, launching a raid that killed dozens of Palestinians, including women and children.
“Netanyahu's insistence on freeing the captives through military pressure, rather than sealing a deal, means they will return to their families in shrouds. The families have to choose whether they want them dead or alive,” the spokesman said.
Netanyahu: Hamas executed the six hostages with a bullet to the neck
Earlier, Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said tonight that the end of the war in Gaza will come when Hamas no longer rules the enclave while referring to a ceasefire agreement he said international pressure should be put on Hamas and not on Israel.
On the matter of the Philadelphia Corridor, he said that “the axis of evil (including Iran and Hamas) needs it and for that reason we must control it”, insisting that it “will not bow to pressure” and stressing that control of this highway is an “existential issue” for Israel. “Only when Hamas understands this will we be able to reach an agreement,” he stressed.
Earlier, US President Joe Biden said Netanyahu was not doing enough to secure a deal for the hostages. When asked about the US president's comment, the Israeli prime minister replied that the pressure should be on Hamas and not on Israel, especially after the hostages died. “And now, after this, they're asking us to be serious? Are we being asked to make concessions? What message does this send to Hamas? It says, kill more hostages,” he said. He added that he doesn't think Biden, or anyone serious about a peace deal, would ask Israel to make more concessions. “We already did them. Hamas must make the concession,” he repeated.
Speaking of the six hostages who were found dead on Sunday in the Gaza Strip, he asserted that “their murder is not due to our decision the Philadelphia Corridor) but to Hamas itself.” He even said that “these killers executed six of our hostages with a bullet to the neck”.
On Sunday, Israel's Health Ministry announced that the hostages were shot “by contact”.
< p>When asked about the possibility of dismissing Defense Minister Yoav Gallad from the government, the prime minister replied that as long as there is trust between them they can continue to work together. He also commented that all ministers have an obligation to abide by cabinet decisions.
Yesterday Gallant urged Netanyahu to make a deal with Hamas to return the hostages from Gaza and called for his decision to be revoked. cabinet.
