Netanyahu said: "This morning a murderous terrorist attack took place in Holon. I send my condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. I commend the police officers who engaged and neutralized the terrorist. We will hold accountable everyone who collaborated with him."
He also said that "The State of Israel is in a multi-front war against the axis of evil led by Iran. We are striking powerfully at each of its arms. We are prepared for any scenario - both in defense and in attack."
"I repeat and say to our enemies - We will respond and exact a heavy price for any act of aggression against us, from any front."
Regarding the negotiations for the release of hostages, he said: "I instructed the delegation to leave for Cairo yesterday to continue the negotiations. Therefore, I insist on maximizing the number of living hostages who will be released in the first phase of the deal, and on maintaining leverage for the release of all our hostages later on."
"I am willing to go a very long way for the release of all our hostages while ensuring Israel's security. Our commitment stands in stark contrast to the leaks and false briefings on the issue of releasing our hostages. These briefings harm the negotiations, and unfortunately - they also mislead the dear families of the hostages. They create a false impression as if Hamas has agreed to the deal, and the Israeli government is the one opposing it."
"The exact opposite is true - the simple truth is, that until this moment Hamas has not agreed to the most basic conditions of the outline. While we have not added any demands to the outline, Hamas is the one that demanded to introduce dozens of changes to it. It has not withdrawn its demand that Israel cannot return to war, it demands that we withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah Crossing - its lifelines, that will allow it to rearm and strengthen again. It is important to establish the principle - we are not leaving those areas."
He also said that "Hamas is also not willing to allow any mechanism to check and prevent the transfer of weapons and terrorists to the northern Gaza Strip. It is doing all this because it wants to recover and rebuild, and to repeat the massacre of October 7, as it promised to do. The fact is that what prevents the release of our hostages is Hamas, which continues to oppose the outline, and not the Israeli government that accepted it. Anyone who, like us, wants the release of our hostages should direct the pressure on Hamas - not on the Israeli government."
