Benjamin Netanyahu held a televised press conference a day after Israeli forces mistakenly killed three of the more than 100 remaining hostages being held by Hamas.
Israelis protest in Tel Aviv on December 15 after the Israeli military mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza. Photo: Reuters
Earlier, the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency David Barnea was reported to have met Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe late on Friday, to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza and a new prisoner swap.
In his speech, Mr Netanyahu sidestepped questions about the meeting, but confirmed that he had given instructions to the negotiating team.
Netanyahu also maintained his tough stance, saying that Israel's offensive in Gaza had helped secure a partial hostage release in November and vowing to maintain strong military pressure on Hamas. "The instructions I gave to the negotiating team were based on this pressure, without this pressure we have nothing," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister continues to call the Israel-Hamas conflict an existential war that must be fought until victory, regardless of pressure and cost, and said Gaza will be demilitarized and placed under Israeli security control.
A Hamas statement said the group "reaffirms its position that it will not open any negotiations for prisoner exchanges unless the aggression against our people ends once and for all". It added: "The movement has communicated this position to all mediators".
Israel continued bombing targets across Gaza on Saturday, but two Egyptian security sources said Israeli officials now appeared more willing to move toward a ceasefire and swap Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Israel's assault on Gaza has killed nearly 19,000 people, most of them civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry. Thousands more may be buried under the rubble.
An incident on Friday in which Israeli troops mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages despite them holding white flags, according to an initial investigation, has put increasing pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu to free the remaining hostages.
As Netanyahu spoke at the news conference, hundreds of Israelis protested in Tel Aviv. Some held signs demanding the release of the hostages, including one that said “Get them out of hell.” Another shouted, “Send them home now!”
Hoang Anh (according to Reuters, AJ, AP)
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