Netanyahu refuses to budge on ceasefire deal despite hostage killings

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied growing calls to get a ceasefire agreement finalized following Hamas’s killings of several hostages over the weekend.

Netanyahu said he believes it’s a necessity that the Israeli-controlled Philadelphi corridor, a strip of land along the Gazan border with Egypt, remains under Israeli control as a part of a ceasefire deal. Israel has long claimed Hamas smuggles weapons into Gaza through tunnels underneath the border.