Israeli defence minister calls for deal to bring Gaza hostages home

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to conclude a ceasefire deal with Hamas to bring the remaining hostages home from Gaza, as the bodies of six of those taken on Oct. 7 were brought home.

"It's too late for the abductees who were murdered in cold blood. The abductees who remain in the captivity of Hamas must be returned home," he said on the social media platform X.

"The political-security cabinet must convene immediately and reverse the decision made on Thursday," he said, referring to a decision by the cabinet to insist on keeping troops in the so-called Philadelphi corridor, along the southern edge of Gaza.

Netanyahu's insistence on keeping troops in the corridor to prevent Hamas smuggling weapons in from Egypt, has been widely seen as one of the major obstacles to an agreement with Hamas in talks brokered by Egypt and Qatar.

Gallant has clashed repeatedly with Netanyahu and hardline religious nationalist ministers over the need to reach a deal to halt the fighting in Gaza and bring the remaining hostages back in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Around a third of the 101 Israeli and foreign captives still in Gaza are believed to have died, with the fate of the others unknown.

Israeli media reported that Gallant confronted Netanyahu angrily during the cabinet meeting on Thursday over the issue of the Philadelphi corridor and warned that time was running out for a hostage deal.

Netanyahu said on Sunday Israel was committed to concluding a hostage deal but he blamed Hamas for refusing to accept proposals agreed with the United States.

He said the killing of the six hostages, shortly before they were found by Israeli forces in a tunnel under the southern Gaza city of Rafah, showed that Hamas was not interested in stopping the fighting.

"Whoever murders hostages is not interested in a deal," he said in a statement following the return of the bodies of the six hostages.

Israel's security and defence leaders have been increasingly at odds with Netanyahu over the issue of the ceasefire talks, which have shown little sign of producing a breakthrough after weeks of meetings in Qatar and Egypt.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie; editing by Philippa Fletcher)