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Netanyahu Hits Back After Biden Claims He’s Not Doing Enough to Secure Hostage Deal With Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz (not pictured) in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv , Israel , 28 October 2023. Photo: ABIR SULTAN POOL/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back at US President Joe Biden after the American leader claimed he has not worked hard enough to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal between the Jewish state and the Hamas terrorist group.
Netanyahu spoke to reporters on Monday, insisting that he has worked tirelessly to achieve an end to the war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages from the clutches of Hamas, which kidnapped the captives during the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 onslaught across southern Israel.
“I want to set the record straight,” Netanyahu said. “On April 27, [US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken] said that Israel has made an extraordinarily generous offer for a hostage deal. On May 31, Israel agreed to a US-backed proposal. Hamas refused. On Aug. 16, Israel agreed to what the US defined as a final bridging proposal. Hamas refused again. On Aug. 19, Secretary Blinken said, ‘Israel accepted the US proposal; now Hamas must do the same.’ On Aug. 28 — that’s five days ago, five days ago — [Deputy CIA Director David Cohen] said that ‘Israel shows seriousness in the negotiations. Now Hamas must show the same seriousness.’”
Netanyahu’s comments came after the bodies of six Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7 were found over the weekend in a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Hamas terrorists had executed them prior to a raid by Israeli forces. One of the murdered hostages, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was an American-Israeli dual citizen.
The Israeli prime minister urged world leaders to maintain maximum pressure on Hamas or risk emboldening the terrorist group to continue fighting and committing atrocities.
“I want to ask you something: What has changed in the last five days? What has changed?” Netanyahu asked. “One thing: These murderers executed six of our hostages. They shot them in the back of the head. That’s what’s changed. And now? After seeing this, we’re asked to show seriousness? We’re asked to make concessions? What message does this send to Hamas? It says: Kill more hostages, murder more hostages, you’ll get more concessions.”
Netanyahu argued that the international community should direct its outrage at Hamas and that anyone “serious about achieving peace” should grant Israel maximum support to help diminish the terrorist group’s leverage.
“The pressure internationally must be directed at those killers. At Hamas, not at Israel. We say yes; they say no all the time,” Netanyahu added. “But they also murdered these people, and now we need maximum pressure on Hamas. I don’t believe that either President Biden or anyone serious about achieving peace, achieving the release [of hostages], would seriously ask Israel, Israel to make these concessions. We’ve already made them. Hamas has to make the concessions.”
The Israeli prime minister has been under immense pressure to finalize a ceasefire with Hamas to end the fighting in Gaza and secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza — about one-third of whom have already been declared dead. The pressure mounted after the six hostages were murdered, which led large crowds of Israelis to flood the streets in outrage and protest in support of a deal to secure the release of the hostages.
Netanyahu’s comments appeared to be a direct response to Biden claiming earlier in the day that the Israeli premier was not doing enough to try and reach a ceasefire. Biden was taking questions from the press on the South Lawn of the White House when a reporter asked, “Mr. President, do you think it’s time for Prime Minister Netanyahu to do more on this issue? Do you think he is doing enough?”
Biden responded flatly, “No.”
However, Biden insisted that “we’re very close” to achieving a final agreement, adding that he will continue “to push” for the release of the remaining American hostages in Gaza.
“Yes. I have spoken to the American hostage … I spoke to his mom and dad, and we are not giving up. We are going to continue to push as hard as we can. Thank you,” Biden told reporters on Monday.
In November, more than 100 hostages were released as part of a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas. Since then, the US, Egypt, and Qatar have attempted to broker a more enduring ceasefire. Hamas has repeatedly rejected proposals accepted by Israel.
Israeli officials have said they believe 101 hostages remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the Israeli military.
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Saudi Arabia Rejects Israel PM Netanyahu’s Remarks on Displacing Palestinians
US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk in the midst of a joint news conference in the White House in Washington, US, Jan. 28, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Saudi Arabia affirmed its categorical rejection of remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about displacing Palestinians from their land, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Israeli officials have suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi territory. Netanyahu appeared to be joking on Thursday when he responded to an interviewer on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 who mistakenly said “Saudi state” instead of “Palestinian state,” before correcting himself.
While the Saudi statement mentioned Netanyahu’s name, it did not directly refer to the comments about establishing a Palestinian state in Saudi territory.
Egypt and Jordan also condemned the Israeli suggestions, with Cairo deeming the idea as a “direct infringement of Saudi sovereignty.”
The kingdom said it valued “brotherly” states’ rejection of Netanyahu’s remarks.
“This occupying extremist mindset does not comprehend what the Palestinian territory means for the brotherly people of Palestine and its conscientious, historical and legal association with that land,” it said.
Discussions of the fate of Palestinians in Gaza has been upended by Tuesday’s shock proposal from President Donald Trump that the U.S. would “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
Arab states have roundly condemned Trump’s comments, which came during a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza war that Israel has been waging against the terrorist group Hamas, which controls the narrow strip.
Trump has said Saudi Arabia was not demanding a Palestinian state as a condition for normalizing ties with Israel. But Riyadh rebuffed his statements, saying it would not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.
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Egypt to Host Emergency Arab Summit on 27 February to Discuss ‘Serious’ Palestinian Developments
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Feb. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Egypt will host an emergency Arab summit on 27 February to discuss what it described as “serious” developments for Palestinians, according to a statement from the Egyptian foreign ministry on Sunday.
The summit comes amid regional and global condemnation of US President Donald Trump’s suggestion to “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
The post Egypt to Host Emergency Arab Summit on 27 February to Discuss ‘Serious’ Palestinian Developments first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Thai Nationals Held Captive by Hamas in Gaza Return Home
Relatives hug a released Thai hostage, who was kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas and held in Gaza, as the hostages arrive in Thailand following their release, at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Samut Prakan, Thailand, February 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
When Surasak Rumnao, 31, left his home in Thailand’s rural Udon Thani province three years ago to go across the world to the southern Israeli town of Yesha for agriculture work, his family never imagined they would lose touch with him for over a year when he was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in October 2023.
He and four others were reunited with their families this weekend after their release from captivity in Gaza.
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists abducted more than 250 people, including Israelis and foreign nationals, in their October 2023 attack on Israel.
During the attack, Hamas terrorists killed more than 40 Thais and kidnapped 31 Thai laborers, some of whom died in captivity, according to the Thai government. Later that year, the first group of Thai hostages was returned.
Surasak’s mother, Khammee Rumnao, was relieved that her son was not mistreated and has returned to his home, about 620 km(385 miles) northeast of the capital, Bangkok.
“He mainly got to eat bread, he was looked after well and was fed all three meals (each day). He got to shower, he was looked after well,” Khammee said, and that he ate whatever his captors had.
Her son does not plan to go back and wants to use the knowledge he gained in his agricultural work in Israel at their home, she said.
His grandparents and other relatives came to their home to welcome him home.
His stepfather, Janda Prachanan, was elated.
“I couldn’t find the words to describe how happy I am, that my son is safe and finally home,” he said.
Earlier on Sunday, the other returnees, dressed in winter jackets, were met with tears of joy from their families who were waiting for their arrival at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
“We are all deeply touched to come back to our birthplace … to be standing here,” said Pongsak Thaenna, one of the returnees said. “I don’t know what else to say, we are all truly thankful.”
Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, who met the hostages in Israel after their release last week, expressed relief.
“This is emotional … to come back to the embrace of their families,” he said. “We never gave up and this was the fruit of that.”
Before the conflict, approximately 30,000 Thai laborers worked in Israel’s agriculture sector, making them one of the largest migrant worker groups in the country. Nearly 9,000 Thais were repatriated following the October 7 attacks.
The workers primarily come from Thailand’s northeastern region, an area comprising villages and farming communities that is among the poorest in the country.
Thailand’s foreign ministry said a Thai national is still believed to be held captive by Hamas.
“We still have hope and continue to work to bring them back,” Maris said, adding that this includes the bodies of two deceased Thai nationals.
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