The group's armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, issues a statement, two days after Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six captives from a Gaza tunnel.
The armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas said captives held in Gaza would return to Israel “in coffins” if Israeli military pressure continues, warning that “new instructions” had been given to its fighters guarding the captives in case Israeli troops approach.
“[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] “Netanyahu's insistence on releasing the captives through military pressure rather than reaching an agreement means that they will return to their families in coffins. Their families have to choose between receiving them alive or dead,” Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida said in a statement on Monday, two days after Israel recovered the bodies of six captives.
“Netanyahu and the army bear full responsibility for the deaths of the captives after having intentionally obstructed any prisoner exchange agreement,” he said.
The Qassam Brigades statement came shortly after Netanyahu said the six captives whose bodies were recovered from a tunnel in the Rafah area of southern Gaza had been “executed” by Hamas.
“I apologize for not bringing them back alive,” Netanyahu said during a televised news conference early Monday, as protests over the deaths continued for a second day in Israel.
“We came close, but we didn't succeed. Hamas will pay a heavy price for this,” he added.
Izzat al-Risheq, a senior Hamas official, said all six captives were killed in Israeli airstrikes.
Meanwhile, protests in Israel over the deaths of the captives continued with angry demonstrators saying they could have been returned alive if Netanyahu's government had signed a ceasefire with Hamas.
However, political analyst Akiva Eldar told Al Jazeera that a nationwide strike in Israel on Monday and growing public anger will not make a real difference to ending the war in Gaza and freeing the captives.
“It seems that for Netanyahu, the alternative – which is his personal, political and private life – is more important than the lives of the Israeli captives,” Eldar said, adding that despite the large number of protesters, “the Israeli right and the radical right” that supports the government “have the upper hand.”
“The government and the prime minister are now on the defensive,” Ori Goldberg, an expert on Israeli politics, told Al Jazeera. “Now what matters is momentum.”
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden also said Netanyahu was not doing enough to reach a deal to release the captives.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Biden was asked if he thought Netanyahu was doing enough to reach a deal. Biden said, “No,” but did not elaborate.
Months of on-and-off negotiations mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have so far failed to produce an agreement on Biden's Gaza ceasefire proposal in May.
Hamas wants a deal to end the war and remove Israeli forces from Gaza, while Netanyahu says the war can only end once Hamas is defeated.
Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli ambassador and government adviser, told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu is the one who “has absolutely no interest in a hostage deal or a ceasefire.”
“Those who are shocked, devastated and angry at what happened should not be surprised because this is exactly what the [Israeli] Minister of Defense [Yoav Gallant] And we were all warned what would happen,” Pinkas said.
“His [Netanyahu’s] And it was only their reluctance to commit to a deal that made all this happen.”
