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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.
The post Netanyahu Hits Back After Biden Claims He’s Not Doing Enough to Secure Hostage Deal With Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.