Netanyahu: ‘Whoever Murders Hostages Does Not Want a Deal’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement on Sunday in response to Hamas’s murder of six Israeli hostages, whose bodies were discovered in a tunnel in Gaza: “Whoever murders hostages does not want a deal.”

Netanyahu expressed his grief at the news, as well as outrage at Hamas, and vowed to make the terrorists “pay the price.” He noted that Israel had twice accepted the terms proposed by the U.S. for a deal, while Hamas had refused.

His full statement, on video and translated from Hebrew via the Government Press Office, is as follows:

This is a difficult day for us.

Together with all citizens of Israel, I was outraged to the depths of my soul by the horrific, cold-blooded murder of six of our hostages:

Carmel Gat,

Eden Yerushalmi,

Hersh Goldberg-Polin,

Alexander Lobanov,

Almog Sarusi,

and Master-Sergeant Ori Danino.

May G-d avenge them.

Together with the entire nation, my wife and I share in the families’ deep mourning.

I would like to express deep appreciation for our forces, for the brave IDF soldiers and ISA fighters, who risked their lives in order to return our sons and daughters.

I say to the Hamas terrorists who murdered our hostages and I say to their leaders: You will pay the price. We will not rest, nor will be silent. We will pursue you, we will find you and we will settle accounts with you.

Citizens of Israel,

We are fighting on all fronts against a brutal enemy who wants to murder us all. Only this morning, it murdered three police officers in Hebron. My wife and I send heartfelt condolences to their families.

We saw the inconceivable brutality of the Hamas murderers on October 7 and we have seen it again in the tunnels under Rafah.

The fact that Hamas is continuing to perpetrate atrocities like those it carried out on October 7 requires us to do everything so that it will be unable to perpetrate these atrocities again.

Citizens of Israel,

Our efforts to free our hostages are continuing constantly. Since December, Hamas has refused to hold genuine negotiations.

Three months ago, on May 27, Israel agreed to a hostage release deal with full backing from the US. Hamas refused.

Even after the US updated the deal framework on August 16 – we agreed, and Hamas again refused.

In recent days, as Israel has been holding intensive negotiations with the mediator in a supreme effort to reach a deal, Hamas is continuing to steadfastly refuse all proposals.

Even worse, at the exact same time, it murdered six of our hostages.

Whoever murders hostages – does not want a deal.

For our part, we will not relent. The Government of Israel is committed, and I am personally committed, to continue striving toward a deal that will return all of our hostages and ensure our security and our existence.

The prime minister spoke amid escalating public outrage, including claimed by the political opposition and some of the hostage families that he was to blame for the deaths of the hostages because of the failure of hostage deal efforts.

(Some hostage families, represented by the Tikva Forum, called on Netanyahu to cut off negotiations with Hamas.)

Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, implied in a statement that Netanyahu and the rest of the government were to blame because of a vote last week to confirm that Israel would not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor, which is along the Gaza-Egypt border and was a key smuggling route for Hamas. He urged the security cabinet to reconvene and to reverse the decision.

There is no evidence Hamas acted in response to the Philadelphi vote, though Hamas has accused Israel of changing the conditions demanded for a deal since Israel’s conquest of the corridor.

Netanyahu’s his office later indicated that he had begun apologizing personally to the families of the six in private telephone calls. Mass protests are expected outside Netanyahu’s office Sunday evening, and in cities across Israel.

There are also calls for a general strike; a teachers’ strike had already been scheduled for the start of the school year.

As of Sunday, 97 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, at least 33 of whom are confirmed dead.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.