Netanyahu says Israel won’t concede ground in hostage talks

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns Hamas that Israel is not going to give in to its demands in hostage talks in Qatar.

“If Hamas understands our readiness to reach a deal as weakness, as an opportunity to dictate terms of surrender to us that will endanger Israel, it is greatly mistaken,” says Netanyahu, speaking at the state ceremony marking 85 years since the death of Revisionist Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky.

“We are determined to achieve all the aims of the war,” he adds.

“We are determined to bring everyone back, and that is what we will do,” Netanyahu says of the hostages still held in Gaza.

The prime minister adds that Israel “will not abandon our Druze brothers in southern Syria.”

“We will make sure the territory south of Damascus, along our border, is free of weapons,” he promises, “and we will do everything we need to help and protect the Druze.”