Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that he is “personally committed” to securing a hostage deal after the bodies of six Israeli captives were rescued from Gaza.

According to an IDF spokesman, the detainees were murdered shortly before Israeli forces reached them on Saturday night.

Several of their relatives, and opposition politicians, have since condemned Netanyahu for prioritising the war effort over negotiating an agreement for their release.

In recent days the prime minister reportedly told Defence Minister Yoav Gallant that he was prioritising keeping Israeli troops in the Philadelphi Corridor over agreeing a deal to return the remaining hostages.

In a recorded statement following the discovery of the slain Israeli captives, Netanyahu blamed Hamas for the failure to reach an agreement.

“This is a difficult day. The heart of the entire people is torn. Along with all the citizens of Israel, I was shocked to the depths of my soul by the terrible cold-blooded murder of six of our hostages,” he said.

Netanyahu continued: “Since December, Hamas refuses to conduct real negotiations. Three months ago, on May 27, Israel agreed to a hostage release deal with the full backing of the United States. Hamas refused. Even after the United States updated the outline of the deal on August 16, we agreed, and Hamas again refused…

"While Israel is conducting intensive negotiations with the mediators in a supreme effort to reach a deal, Hamas continues to firmly refuse any offer.

“Worse than that, at that very moment [of the ongoing negotiations] it murdered six of our hostages.”

Netanyahu said: “He who murders hostages does not want a deal.”

The prime minister added that Israel was fighting a “cruel” enemy and that Hamas terrorists would be tracked down and killed.

“The Israeli government is committed, and I am personally committed, to continue pursuing a deal that will return all of our hostages and guarantee our security and existence,” he said.

Netanyahu’s office did not respond when asked why it had taken several hours for a statement to be released following news of the hostages’ deaths, and why he had not spoken live to the nation, the Times of Israel reported.

According to Israeli media reports, Netanyahu and Gallant clashed over hostage deal terms on Thursday.

The prime minister is said to have insisted that the IDF remain in control of the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the border between Gaza and Egypt.

Gallant, with the support of Herzi Halevi, the chief of the general staff, said that such a demand would cause negotiations with Hamas to fail.

"The prime minister can indeed make all the decisions, and he can also decide to kill all the hostages,” the defence minister is reported to have said.

Speaking on Sunday, Gil Dickmann, a cousin of murdered hostage Carmel Gat, said Netanyahu was to blame for the six hostages’ deaths.

“I wish that you [Carmel] saw and heard us. I wish that, even though you saw the terrible murder of your mother Kinneret with your own eyes, you discovered that your father Eshel, your brothers Alon and Or, your brother-in-law Yarden, and niece Gefen survived. I wish you saw how your friends fought to bring you back alive,” he wrote on X.

“I wish you didn’t hear the prime minister say he thinks that the Philadelphi Corridor is more important than your life and the lives of the rest of the hostages. I can only imagine how that filled you with rage.”