Netanyahu seeks ‘forgiveness’ for not saving Israeli hostages

‘I ask for your forgiveness for not bringing them back alive. Hamas will pay a very heavy price for this,’ Netanyahu said on Monday

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a news conference in Jerusalem on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 4:03am, 3 Sep 2024

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he was seeking forgiveness for failing to save six hostages whose bodies were recovered from a Gaza tunnel at the weekend.

“I ask for your forgiveness for not bringing them back alive,” Netanyahu said at a televised press conference. “We were close but we didn’t succeed. Hamas will pay a very heavy price for this.”

Protesters supporting the families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, outside the residence of Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

As thousands of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv on Monday night for a second day of demonstrations criticising the government, Netanyahu insisted that leaving the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border would not have led to a different outcome, vowing “not to give in to pressure” over the issue in Gaza ceasefire talks.

“The achievement of the war’s objectives goes through the Philadelphi Corridor,” he said at a televised press conference one day after Israeli authorities announced the death of six more hostages seized during Hamas’s October 7 attack.

“Control of the Philadelphi axis guarantees that the hostages will not be smuggled out of Gaza,” Netanyahu added.

“The killing of the six hostages did not happen because of the decision on Philadelphi but because of Hamas itself.