Middle East latest: Netanyahu doubles down against Hamas - as calls for hostage release deal grow (2024)

Hello and welcome back to our coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and the wider Middle East crisis.

Pressure was mounting on Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday as hundreds of thousands of Israelis went on strike and took to the streets for a second day of mass protests.

Joe Bidenadded to the pressure as he criticised the Israeli prime minister for not "doing enough" to secure a hostage deal in Gaza.

But despite asking for "forgiveness" over the deaths of six hostages whose bodies were recovered at the weekend, Mr Netanyahu appeared defiant in a news conference as he insisted Israel would not leave the strategic Philadelphi corridor along Gaza's border with Egyptas part of any ceasefire deal.

The demand has been a key sticking point in talks with Hamas.

Mr Netanyahu's stance has caused frustration among Israel's allies, including the US, and widened a rift with his own defence minister Yoav Gallant.

Elsewhere, the UK announced it would suspend some arms sales to Israel following a review which found there was a "clear risk" they might be used to commit "a serious violation of international humanitarian law".

Stay with us as we bring you the key developments throughout the day.

That brings an end to our live coverage for this evening.

We'll be back with any breaking developments overnight, but in the meantime, here's a reminder of the day's key events:

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked for "forgiveness" over the deaths of six hostages in Gaza, whose bodies were found by Israeli forces over the weekend;
• But he doubled down against Hamas, saying the militant group would pay "a very heavy price" over the "massacre" of Israeli people;
• Mr Netanyahu also remained defiant in the face ofincreasing pressure on him to reach a ceasefire deal, saying he would stick to a key Israeli demand to maintain control over a strategic strip of landalong Gaza's border with Egypt, whereIsrael claims Hamas smuggles weapons into Gaza.

• Joe Biden added to the pressure on Mr Netanyahu, as he told reporters a final hostage deal between Israel and Hamas was "very close" - but said the Israeli leader was not doing enough to secure a deal.
• It comes as protests sparked by the discovery of the six hostages in Gaza continued for a second day on the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, with thousands of people calling for the government to do more to settle the conflict and bring the remaining hostages home.

• Meanwhile, foreign minister David Lammy announced the UK was suspending some arms exports to Israel over concerns they could be used to break international law.
• Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said he was "disheartened" over the decision, while foreign minister Israel Katz said it sent a "problematic" message to Hamas and its Iranian backers.

Yemen's Houthis have claimed responsibility for a missile and drone attack on an oil tanker in the Red Sea.

Two tankers - the Saudi-flagged Amjad and Panama-flagged Blue Lagoon I, were attacked earlier off Yemen.

The Houthis have this evening claimed they attacked the Blue Lagoon withmultiple missiles and drones, butdid not make any mention of the Saudi tanker.

Sources said earlier that the ships had been sailing near each other when they were struck but continued their journeys with no major damage or casualties reported.

At least six people have been arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct as thousands gather for a protest on the streets of Jerusalem, police in Israel said.

Forces increased the number of officers on the streets ahead of the demonstrations, a spokesperson said in a statement.

They added that some of the protesters crossed "the fences of the approved protest compound... confronting the police, and lighting flares".

It comes as a mass anti-government protest also takes place in Tel Aviv (see 20.23 post).

Benjamin Netanyahu will eventually fall - but the question is when, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak has said.

Speaking to Sky News' The World with Yalda Hakim, Mr Barak said Mr Netanyahu has essentially "rejected the rule of law in Israel".

He said any British leader would have resigned after a situation like the 7 October attacks - but the Israeli leader "sticks to power".

"InIsrael, four out of five people see him as the man responsible for this trajectory. Three out of four want him to resign," said Mr Barak.

He said he was confident that "in the end" Mr Netanyahu "will fall".

"The question is how long it will take and what extra damage Israel will have to pay," he said, adding that it could take "years" to correct the "damage" caused to Israel's strategic position.

Mr Barak said protests against the Israeli prime minister could continue for "several months" or even half a year longer.

"The rightthing for Israel is now to put an end to this chapter," he said.

By Alistair Bunkall, Middle East correspondent

Benjamin Netanyahu stood in front of a giant digital map, that mysteriously erased the West Bank and explained why Israeli forces wouldn't be leaving Gaza anytime soon.

He has shied away from engaging with Israeli media during the war but was forced to do this press conference under pressure from the huge protests on the country's streets.

If the thousands gathered outside the defence ministry in Tel Aviv were hoping for a sign of compromise, they didn't get it.

Netanyahu gave no ground, either figuratively or literally. Israel couldn't and wouldn't withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor in southern Gaza, he declared, and that, tweeted a former IDF spokesman, "sealed the hostages' fate".

Israel's prime minister did, for the first time, try and explain his position in detail and said that if Israel withdrew, international pressure would stop them returning.

If the purpose was to convince sceptical Israeli journalists and an angry public, he failed. He can't even convince his own defence minister.

He was asked why he agreed to withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor in May but has since changed his demands. He tried to claim he never made such a commitment. Mediators have said differently.

He was challenged on his responsibility for the deaths of hostages but dismissed it as purely the fault of Hamas, an act of a group with no intention of negotiating.

If there was one small glimmer of compromise, it was his concession that"we don't have to be there with a huge force, we need to be there with a sufficient force". Could that give the mediators room to negotiate?

One thing was undisputedly clear: even if the first six-week phase of a ceasefire was agreed, there is no chance of it being extended.

Netanyahu has weathered many storms in his long years as the country's leader, but none as big as this.

He believes his approach to Gaza is the right one and he is convinced he can ride out this pressure.

Maybe, but for a man so concerned with his legacy, his refusal to compromise and the fate of the hostages at stake, he is boxing himself into a corner Israelis might never forgive him for.

A Palestinian man has died hours after being arrested by Israeli forces in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank region.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said troops handed over the body of 58-year-old Ayman Rajeh Abed hours after he was detained around dawn during the sixth day of a major Israeli operation in the city.

According to the director of Jenin's Wissam Bakr hospital, the man's body showed signs of beatings and torture.

Israel's military said Mr Abed had been arrested during counterterrorism operations and experienced a "cardiac event" on arrival at a detention facility.

"The IDF is aware of reports that the suspect died during his evacuation by the Red Crescent," it said in a statement, adding that details of the incident were under review.

At least 29 Palestinians have been killed and another 121 wounded in Jenin andother areas of the West Bank, Palestinianhealth authorities claim.

Thousands of people have gathered on the streets of Tel Aviv for a second day of protests demanding that Benjamin Netanyahu agree a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas.

The wave of protests was sparked by the discovery of six hostages in Gaza at the weekend, who the Israeli military claim were brutally murdered not long before.

Angry Israeli citizens who blame Mr Netanyahu for their deaths are calling for an end to the war, in what appear to be some of the biggest demonstrations since the 7 October attacks.

Hamas's armed wing says it has issued new instructions to guards on handling hostages if Israeli forces approach detention sites.

Abu Ubaida, spokesperson for the militant group's al-Qassam Brigades, did not explain what the new orders were.

He also said Israel was to blame for the deaths of the six hostages whose bodies were recovered on Saturday night.

The hostages, aged between 23 and 40 years old, were "brutally murdered" a short time before Israeli forces found them in an underground tunnel, according to the Israeli military.

In a news conference in the past hour, Benjamin Netanyahu asked for "forgiveness" over their deaths, saying Israel was "so close" to retrieving them alive (see posts from 18.26).

However he denied personal responsibility, and said their killings happened because Hamas did not want a deal.

Joe Biden could offer a final "take it or leave it" deal as soon as this week to negotiators working on a hostage and ceasefireagreement, our US partner network NBC News reports.

Two sources briefed on the discussions told the network that White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan suggested the move as an option during a virtual meeting with hostage families yesterday.

The US president told reporters earlier that a final deal was "very close".

He also saidhe didnot think Benjamin Netanyahu was doing enough tosecure such an agreement.