“What message does this send to Hamas? It says: Kill more hostages.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to criticism from President Joe Biden on Monday by saying that pressuring Israel following the killing of six hostages by Hamas would only encourage Hamas to kill more hostages.

At a news conference, Mr. Netanyahu delivered a speech almost entirely in Hebrew. He began by stressing that Israel is fighting for its survival against a brutal enemy. He apologized — as he had done before — to the families of the six slain hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who were killed as Israeli soldiers approached the underground facility where they were being held: “We were close, but we did not succeed.”

The prime minister then showed maps on a screen to explain the strategic importance of the Philadelphia Corridor, which runs along the Gaza-Egypt border. Before Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, he said, Israel controlled the border. After the “disengagement,” when Israel no longer controlled the border, Hamas was able to smuggle weapons that it used to attack Israel. Holding the corridor was necessary, he said, to prevent Hamas from rearming.

Countering Israeli military leaders and officials who have suggested that Israel could afford to withdraw from the corridor during the first six weeks of a proposed hostage deal, Netanyahu said there was no such thing as a “temporary” withdrawal. International pressure, he said, would prevent Israel from retaking the corridor once it had abandoned it. “This thing (abandoning the Philadelphia corridor) will not bring back the hostages – quite the opposite,” Netanyahu concluded.

Netanyahu criticized those who said Israel should reverse a recent security cabinet decision to retain the Philadelphia corridor — referring to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, but not naming him. “What message does this send to Hamas? Killing hostages and winning?” he asked. He showed reporters a Hamas document, found by soldiers in Gaza, that suggested using psychological pressure on Israel by blaming Netanyahu and targeting Gallant.

Netanyahu then responded to criticism from President Biden, who had said earlier Monday that Netanyahu was not doing enough to reach a deal. Without addressing Biden directly, Netanyahu read quotes from senior U.S. officials who have been saying for months that Israel has accepted the terms of a proposed deal, and that Hamas has not. There will be a deal, he said, when Hamas realizes that Israel is united on existential issues like Philadelphia.

Later, when asked a question in English, Netanyahu repeated the quotes from the U.S. officials and added:

What has changed in the last five days? What has changed? One thing: These murderers executed six of our hostages. They shot them in the head. That’s what changed. And now, after that, we’re being asked to get serious? We’re being asked to make concessions? What message does that send to Hamas? It says: Kill more hostages, murder more hostages, you’ll get more concessions. International pressure has to be directed against these killers – against Hamas, not against Israel. We say yes, they say no all the time – but they also murdered these people. And now we have to put maximum pressure on Hamas. I don’t think President Biden or anyone who is serious about peace and the release (of the hostages) would seriously ask Israel to make those concessions. We’ve already made them. Hamas has to make those concessions.

Asked when residents of communities in northern Israel – tens of thousands of whom have been evacuated due to Hezbollah rocket attacks from southern Lebanon – could return home, Netanyahu said that would require a change in the security situation, hinting at a possible war.

Israel has said it wants Hezbollah to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, move north of the Litani River and stop attacking Israel. If diplomacy fails, Israel has said it is prepared to go to war in Lebanon.

Joel B. Pollak is a senior editor at Breitbart News and host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday nights from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. PT). He is the author of “The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.