Israeli PM asks for 'forgiveness' over hostage deaths amid protests outside his home
Israelis have poured into the streets with grief and anger after the bodies of six hostages were recovered in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the families of six hostages whose bodies were recovered over the weekend for "forgiveness".
Speaking at a press conference, 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.”
Netanyahu also said he will continue to insist on a demand that has emerged as a major sticking point in talks - continued Israeli control of the Philadelphi corridor, a narrow band along Gaza's border with Egypt where Israel contends Hamas smuggles weapons into Gaza. Egypt and Hamas deny it.
The PM called the corridor vital to ensuring Hamas cannot rearm via tunnels. “This is the oxygen of Hamas,” he said.
And he added: “No one is more committed to freeing the hostages than me. But no one will preach to me."
His vow comes as protests have broken out across Israel, including in front of Netanyahu's home.
Israelis poured into the streets late on Sunday in grief and anger in what appeared to be the largest protest since the start of the war.
The families and much of the public blamed Netanyahu, saying the hostages could have been returned alive in a deal with Hamas.
A rare general strike was held across the country on Monday, affecting airports, shopping centres and schools in a day of action calling on the government to agree a Gaza ceasefire deal to release hostages held by Hamas.
The move was organised by Israel's largest trade union, the Histadrut, and marks the first of its kind since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, where some 250 people were taken hostage by the militant group.
Flights from Israel's Ben-Gurion airport were halted between 8am and 10am local time (6am - 8am BST), with some slight delays.
The union said banks, some large shopping centres and government offices were closed due to the strike, as well as some transport services, but no major disruptions were reported.
In Tel Aviv, school hours were shortened and public nurseries were closed.
In the UK, foreign secretary David Lammy announced that the government would be suspending some arms exports to Israel.
Histadrut said hospitals and healthcare services could also be impacted, with both working on a weekend schedule and on an emergency basis.
Others parts of Israel were not participating in the strike, including in Jerusalem.
There was a night of protests on Sunday, with organisers estimating 500,000 people took to the streets after the bodies of six more hostages were recovered in Gaza.
Demonstrators demanded Netanyahu reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas where remaining hostages would be released, chanting: "Now! Now!".
Thousands of people, some of them weeping, gathered outside Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem. In Tel Aviv, hostages' relatives marched with coffins.
Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said the hostages would still be alive if Israel had accepted a US-backed ceasefire proposal that Hamas said it had agreed to in July.
Three of the six hostages found dead were reportedly scheduled to be released in the first phase of the deal.
Hamas has offered to release the hostages in return for an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants.
The Israeli government blamed Hamas for stalled negotiations, and said the six hostages were killed shortly before Israeli forces discovered their bodies in a tunnel beneath Gaza.
“Whoever murders hostages doesn’t want a deal,” he said.
One of those found dead was Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, who lost part of his left arm to a grenade on October 7.
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The army identified the others as Ori Danino, 25; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Almog Sarusi, 27; Alexander Lobanov, 33; and Carmel Gat, 40.
President Biden has been "clear" that Hamas is the one responsible for the deaths of Goldberg-Polin and the five other hostages.
Biden previously said that Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, and that he is "close" to presenting a final deal to negotiators working on a ceasefire agreement.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum praised the comments made by Biden.
According to the Israeli Health Ministry, the hostages were shot at close range and were recovered just half a mile from where a hostage was rescued alive last week.
During the funeral of Almog Sarusi, his mother said: “You were abandoned on and on, daily, hour after hour, 331 days.
“You and so many beautiful and pure souls.”
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