Pressure piles on Israel's Netanyahu over Gaza

International and domestic pressure mounted Monday on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as US President Joe Biden said he was not doing enough to secure the release of Gaza captives, after the killing of six.

Britain said it would suspend some arms exports to Israel, citing a "clear risk" they could be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant posted on X that he was "deeply disheartened" by London's decision which he said came "when we mourn 6 hostages who were executed in cold blood by Hamas inside tunnels in Gaza".

At a televised press conference, Netanyahu said he sought forgiveness for failing to save the six.

"I ask for your forgiveness for not bringing them back alive," he said.

"We were close but we didn't succeed. Hamas will pay a very heavy price for this."

"These murderers executed six of our hostages, they shot them in the back of the head," he said, rejecting the idea that Israel should respond with "concessions" in Gaza ceasefire talks.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said remaining captives would return "inside coffins" if Israel maintains its military pressure on Gaza.

A statement said "new instructions" had been given to militants guarding the captives on what to do if Israeli troops approached.

Late on Monday, Hamas released a video that showed alive one of the six captives whose bodies were found by Israeli forces in a Gaza tunnel at the weekend.

In Washington, Biden met US negotiators working alongside Qatar and Egypt to try to secure a truce deal that would free the remaining captives in Gaza in return for Palestinians held in Israel.

'Devastation and outrage'

A White House statement said he expressed "his devastation and outrage" at the killings of the six captives.

Vice President and the Democratic candidate for November's US presidential election Kamala Harris said "Hamas leaders will pay", but added it was "long past time for a ceasefire and hostage deal".

Ahead of the meeting, Biden had said negotiators were "very close" to a final proposal to be presented to Israel and Hamas.

Netanyahu said Monday Israel must retain control of the key Salah Al-Din (Philadelphi) Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border – a significant sticking point in negotiations.

He called on the international community to apply more pressure on Hamas to end the war.

Israelis were gripped by grief and fury after the military said Sunday the bodies of six captives, all captured alive during the Hamas-led 7 October attack on Israel, were recovered from southern Gaza.

Mass rallies

A strike announced by the Histadrut trade union seeking a deal to secure the remaining captives' release brought parts of Israel to a standstill Monday, although some cities were largely unaffected.

Israel's labour court ordered an immediate end to the strike, calling it "politically motivated", after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – a far-right leader who opposes a Gaza truce – urged it to ban the walkout.

Alongside surging domestic anger, diplomatic pressure has also grown, with Biden on Monday delivering some of his strongest criticism of Netanyahu.

Asked by reporters if he thought Netanyahu was doing enough on the issue, he replied: "No."

However, Netanyahu told his news conference: "No one is more committed than me to the release of the hostages. No one can lecture me on this."

At mass rallies late Sunday, captives' relatives called for a truce deal to help free the remaining 97 captives, including 33 the military says are dead.

AFPTV footage showed thousands of people in Tel Aviv Monday for a second night of protests demanding a ceasefire and captive release deal.

Of 251 captives seized on 7 October, just eight have been rescued alive by Israeli forces, although scores were released during a one-week truce in November – the only one so far.

Israel named the six as US-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino, and Russian-Israeli Alexander Lobanov.

Gaza polio campaign

Gaza saw the second day Monday of localised "humanitarian pauses" to facilitate a vaccination drive after the first confirmed polio case in 25 years.

However, an AFP correspondent reported overnight airstrikes and the civil defence agency said an Israeli strike near a school in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza killed five people.

Louise Wateridge, spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said 87,000 children received a first vaccine dose on Sunday in central Gaza.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini called the inoculation campaign a "race against time to reach just over 600,000 children" in the war-torn territory of 2.4 million people.

Tor Wennesland, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, visited Gaza on Monday and said "civilians continue to bear the brunt of this conflict".

"I unequivocally condemn the horrifying civilian death toll in Gaza."

He also condemned "the tragic killing of six hostages in Gaza by Palestinian armed groups".

Israel's war on Gaza has so far killed at least 40,786 people, according to the territory's health ministry. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.

The 7 October attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians and including detainees killed in captivity, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

West Bank assault

The war has sent tensions soaring in the Middle East.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry said Monday at least 26 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched an assault on Wednesday across the north of the occupied West Bank. Militant groups have claimed 14 of the dead as members.

Three Israeli police officers were also killed in a shooting Sunday.

In Lebanon, the health ministry said an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the south killed two people Monday.