Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deaths are proof no deal with Hamas is not possible
Israel says it recovered the bodies of six hostages, including one American-Israeli, in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the hostages were murdered by Hamas, showing the Palestinian group does not want to make a ceasefire deal and prisoner swap.
On Sunday, Tel Aviv reported that six hostages were found dead in Gaza. Israel claimed the six were murdered by Hamas fighters shortly before the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) recovered the bodies. Netanyahu described the killings as “horrific, cold-blooded murder,” adding, “may god avenge them.”
Over 200 Israeli citizens and soldiers were captured by Hamas and returned to Gaza during the raid in southern Israel on October 7. Hamas has offered to release those captives in exchange for Palestinian detainees held by Israel and a permanent end to the violence in Gaza.
In November, Tel Aviv and Hamas agreed to a one-week pause in the fighting that saw 100 of the Israeli hostages released. Since that ceasefire, Israel has attempted to rescue its citizens on military operations that have killed hundreds of innocent Palestinians as well as some captives.
The American is an IDF veteran, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was taken from the Nova Music Festival. Tel Aviv said the bodies were discovered near Rafah.
In his statement on the deaths, Netanyahu claimed the killing of the hostages showed that “Hamas does not want a deal.” He asserted that Israel had proposed a ceasefire and hostage deal backed by President Joe Biden in late May, but Hamas rejected that offer.
However, Hamas has accepted that offer, and Netanyahu responded by adding new demands to scuttle the deal. Members of Tel Aviv’s negotiating team have also blamed Netanyahu for the lack of a deal.
“Netanyahu’s statement is intended to blow up the negotiations, there’s no other way about it. The prime minister knows that we are in a critical period during which we’re working on solutions for the Philadelphi Corridor and Netzarim ahead of the next summit,” a source told the Israeli outlet, Kan.
