Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses Israel-Hamas war cease-fire demands as U.K. limits weapons exports
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will "not give in to pressure" to agree to a cease-fire with Hamas in the face of massive protests in his country as well as President Biden saying he's not doing enough to end the nearly 11-month war in Gaza and Britain's government restricting the sale of some weapons to Israel.
Speaking Monday after dramatic protests following the killing of six Israeli hostages, Netanyahu said he would not back down on some of his demands in the ongoing cease-fire negotiations aimed at stopping the fighting, at least temporarily, to allow the release of dozens of hostages still held in Gaza.
In the televised address late Monday night, Netanyahu asked for forgiveness for not saving the six hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. According to Israeli officials, they were killed by Hamas hours before their bodies were recovered. All six were found by the Israeli military in a Hamas tunnel over the weekend.
"I ask for your forgiveness for not bringing them back alive," Netanyahu said. "We were close but we didn't succeed. Hamas will pay a very heavy price for this."
Netanyahu insisted that "the achievement of the war's objectives" requires Israel to maintain control of the Philadelphi Corridor, the strip of land along the border between southern Gaza and Egypt. Egypt's government has voiced its objection to an Israeli military presence on that border, and Hamas has demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from the area as part of any cease-fire agreement.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Israel on Sunday and Monday to demand that Netanyahu bring an end to the war and secure the release of the 101 remaining hostages, about 35 of whom are believed to be dead.
"He's ruining the country. Divides us in order to keep his control," one protester told CBS News.
President Biden met with negotiators working on the cease-fire negotiations alongside mediators from Egypt and Qatar on Monday. When asked by reporters whether he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to secure a deal that would end the war and see the release of the hostages, he said, "No."
Adding more international pressure, the U.K. government announced Monday that it would suspend some of its arms exports to Israel, citing a "clear risk" that the weapons could be used in violation of international humanitarian law. The government said it was suspending 30 of the approximately 350 licenses for items being used in the current conflict.
"The U.K. continues to support Israel's right to self-defense in accordance with international law," British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.
Netanyahu called the U.K. move "shameful" and "misguided."
In Gaza, the fighting continued as the World Health Organization raced to meet its goal of vaccinating at least 90% of the children living in the enclave against polio. The health ministry in Gaza said around 160,000 Palestinian children in the territory had been vaccinated in the first two days of the emergency vaccination campaign.
