TEL AVIV — Defying the thousands of Israelis who demonstrated across the country Sunday night and Monday morning for a deal to release the hostages in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Monday evening calls to accept an agreement with Hamas that includes also Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip’s southern border, saying such a concession would reward the group for its killing of six Israeli hostages last week. 

Indeed, what triggered the mass demonstrations on Sunday and Monday was the recovery of the six Israeli bodies. Shortly after the Israeli military brought them back home, Israeli authorities confirmed the hostages were killed just one or two days before the arrival of the troops to the tunnel where they were discovered. Their captors had shot each hostage in the neck and once in the chest. "It was an organized killing," a senior Israeli military source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. 

The hostages — Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarousi, Alex Lobanov and Carmel Gat — had survived Hamas captivity for 11 months. Some had been scheduled for release, according to documents prepared during previous failed negotiations between the sides. Their killing broke the dam of enormous rage that has been building up among Israelis since Oct. 7. On Sunday evening, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators flooded Tel Aviv and other towns and intersections throughout Israel. On Monday, hundreds of thousands went on strike, continuing to demonstrate.

Netanyahu unwilling to compromise?