General
Netanyahu Stands Firm on Cease-Fire Terms Amid Growing Outrage in Israel
In his first news conference since the bodies of six killed hostages were recovered, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to budge on his conditions for any truce in Gaza.
Brushing aside pleas from allies and the demands of Israeli protesters for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Monday vowed to keep an Israeli troop presence along the border between Egypt and Gaza, a contentious plan that appeared to dim, if not dash, prospects for a truce.
In his first news conference since the bodies of six slain hostages were recovered over the weekend, Mr. Netanyahu told reporters on Monday night that, to ensure its security, Israel needed to assert control over the border in Gaza, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, calling it the lifeline of Hamas.
Hamas has said the occupation of the corridor is a nonstarter in negotiations for a truce.
“If we leave, we will not be able to return,” Mr. Netanyahu said of the corridor, as a large crowd protested near his private residence in Jerusalem on Monday night.
Mr. Netanyahu made the comments a day after the Israeli military announced that the six hostages had been found dead in a tunnel underneath the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a discovery that spread grief and outrage inside Israel and spurred both the mass protests and a widespread work stoppage.
In the hours before Mr. Netanyahu spoke on Monday night, two close allies of Israel signaled their impatience with the direction of the war in Gaza.
