The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has asked for forgiveness from Israelis for not being able to bring back alive the six hostages who were found dead in Gaza on Saturday. We were very close, he said. We weren't nearly there. In a televised address, he remained defiant in his demand that Israeli troops must continue to control the Philadelphia Corridor in south of Gaza, something Hamas has rejected. Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border has emerged as a primary sticking point in ceasefire talks. He said it's a lifeline for Hamas, their oxygen, and it will determine Israel's future. Let's hear some of what he said.

I am begging for your forgiveness that we did not succeed bringing them home alive. We were very close, nearly there. I would like to repeat once again this evening. Israel will not move on to our normal agenda. After that massacre. Hamas will pay a very heavy price for it. The war against this axis of evil in this specific war against Hamas. The first crack, and of course, that doesn't bring about a deal whatsoever. But the first crack was when we went into Ra'Vash and we took over the Philadelphia Corridor and the Ra'Vash transit point, because that was literally their way they actually could breathe and their oxygen. They were hoping that Iran or Hezbollah would come and save them. Now that they're hoping that international pressure would now extricate them from that situation. But the only effective change that would be enabled would be if we hold on to the Philadelphia corridor and not vacate it, not evacuate it, because once we leave it, we'll never be able to go back.

That's a taste, a sense of what Netanyahu was saying in that address just in the last 90 minutes, 2 hours or so. A little earlier, President Biden said that a final deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza is very close to being presented to Israel and Hamas by mediators. But he told reporters he did not think that the Israeli Prime Minister was doing enough to secure an agreement. Biden spoke to reporters as he arrived at the White House to meet US negotiators. Let's have a listen.

Are you planning to present a final hostage deal to both sides this week? We're very close to that. What makes you think that this deal will be successful in a way that the other deals were not?

Hope sends eternal.

Mr. President, do you think it's time for Prime Minister Netanyahu to do more on this issue?

Do you think he's doing enough?

No.

So that last answer there, the crucial one, is he doing enough? No, answered President Biden. Well, let's take you to Israel itself now, because there has been plenty of criticism by many thousands of people in Israel, well, aimed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. These are the live pictures from Jerusalem, people out on the streets, urging their leader to do more to bring the hostages home. There have been protests on the streets of Jerusalem, similarly large protests address in Tel Aviv as well happening right now. They were taking place actually on the streets as Benjamin Netanyahu, who was holding that televised address. Well, a little earlier, a strike went ahead today until a court ordered people to end it and return to work. The nationwide industrial action caused flight delays and also hit medical centers, schools, and businesses. Our Middle East correspondent, Lucy Williamson, reports.

Israel's protesters and their Prime Minister are old acquaintances. Calls for a hostage deal have brought long-established opponents onto the streets. But the shooting of six hostages in a Gaza tunnel last week has broadened this movement, they say. And the mass demonstrations in Tel Aviv last night were a turning point.

I think the news of the six hostage is the fact that they were alive and murdered right before they could have been saved. That broke it.

After last night's mass protest, people are back on the streets again. There are growing public and political demands on Israel's Prime Minister to make a deal. But Benjamin Netanyahu, protected by his parliamentary majority, isn't listening. But then much of the country isn't protesting. The one day general strike today, largely unobserved, in left-leaning Tel Aviv. A court ruled that the strike was political and ended it. These protests are part of the well-established opposition to Israel's Prime Minister, analysts say, and so far, little threat to him.

I think that Netanyahu knows better than I do. The best thing is to let it play as a safety valve, to do some ventilation and let people say, We hate you, you are a murderer. Enough is enough.

Two of the protest's most vocal activists, not in the street today, but in the cemetery. The parents of hostage, Hersch Goldberg-Pollen, burying their son.

For 23 years, I was privileged to have the most stunning honor to be Hersch's mama. I'll take it in Thank you. I just wish it had been for longer.

Tonight in Jerusalem, the demonstrations began again. Mr. Netanyahu is used to opposition on the street, but he's also facing demands from the US President and his own defense minister. Those demands may be harder to ignore. Lucy Williamson, BBC News, Jerusalem.

Let's speak now to Aaron David Miller, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Think Tank. He's previously been an advisor on Arab-Israeli negotiations to both Republican and Democratic administrations. Thank you for coming on the program.

Thanks for having me.

Can I ask you about that pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu from people in his own country out on the streets yet again right now and from the US President there, Joe Biden. What's your assessment of his position?

It's a rare combination. You now have massive You have the public protests on the streets. You have the Israeli Minister of Defense openly charging during a time of war at a cabinet meeting that the Prime Minister is advocating his moral responsibility and failing to make a choice. You either have the Philadelphia Corp or you can free the hostages, and you have some pressure from the administration. But I have to say that the reason we are where we are is because in negotiations, only when two parties believe that there is urgency to close, when the advantages of closing the deal outweigh the disadvantages of keeping it open to have an agreement. Within the last three days, you've seen a demonstration of the absence of urgency. Number one, the decision by Hamas, who issued instructions, presumably that on the approach of IDF soldiers, keeping in mind the Israeli operation to free hostages in Nasser shot in central Gaza, that they were to be killed. That act, in my judgment, has created enormous room for Benjamin Netanyahu to maneuver, and it's constricted the room and the margin for pressure from the Biden administration. The second act was Netanyahu's press conference today, in which he turned the Philadelphia Corridor, literally, into the fulcrum of Western civilization.

The He's saying the only alternative, there's an alternative, but there's really control in order to beat the, and he referred to it three times, the Axis of Evil, summing up a quote from former President George W. Bush in a speech in the wake of 9/11. I think these two leaders are simply unwilling. They are able, but they are unwilling to make the kinds of arrangements and concessions necessary to even get a phase one deal, which I still continue to believe is doable.

You've laid out there pretty clearly with Without a great deal of optimism. But I'm going to ask anyway, you heard President Biden saying he thinks a deal ready to put to negotiators on both sides is pretty close. When you hear that, it sounds like given the position that the leaders have put themselves in, you don't think there's much chance of it actually happening anytime soon.

I think if the administration puts this last chance final proposal on the table, unless, barring some fundamental 11th hour change of heart, it seems to me the administration is going to get, at best, a yes, but. If the administration believes this is truly the last chance, and they do get a yes, but, what is the administration going to do? Stop negotiating, stop engaging? I've seen this movie in negotiations many times. You should only put a final proposal on the table. If, in fact, the parties are not prepared to accept it, you need to be serious about walking away. Frankly, I don't think the Biden administration in the next 70 days, in anticipation of one of the most consequential elections in modern American history, has the luxury or option of walking away. We are in a negotiator's cul-de-sac with no easy or quick way out. President said, Hope springs eternal.

Aron, David Miller, we must leave it there, but really appreciate us for you while you're lending us your expertise and insight in those negotiations. Thank you. One final significant update from this afternoon. The UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammey, announced a partial suspension of arms exports. Two to Israel. This is after a review into the country's compliance with international law when taking military action in Gaza. Let's take a listen.

The assessment I have received leaves me unable to conclude anything other than that for certain UK arms exports to Israel, there does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law. I have informed my right Honorable friend, the business and Trade Secretary, and he is therefore today announcing the suspension of around 30 from a total of approximately 350 to Israel as required under the Export Controls Act.

Let's speak to our political correspondent, Harry Fawley in Westminster. Harry, good to see you. We should put this in some context, I suppose. The UK isn't a great to Israel in this regard, and it isn't a complete ban or anything like that. But politically, talk us through the significance here.

Yes, that's right, Lewis. It's important to make those points. It's not an arms embargo. It's not a complete ban on weapons exports. You heard David Lammeley, the Foreign Secretary there, saying it's about 30 of 350 existing licenses. But as you say, politically, this is a very sensitive issue for the Labor Party, the governing party here in the UK, because they They lost several seats that they would have otherwise have been expected to win in the general election earlier this year to independent candidates largely standing on pro-Gaza tickets, particularly campaigning on that issue. Now, interestingly, since David Lamme was speaking just a few hours ago, the government has published a summary of how it made that decision to suspend some arms licenses. Crucially, it says that it's not simply based on Israel's conduct in Gaza. It says, despite the mass casualties of the conflict in Gaza, it has not been possible to reach a determinative judgment on the allegations regarding Israel's conduct of hostilities. But rather, this decision is based on two other factors, humanitarian The assessment that the government has done is that Israel has not done enough, has not done all that it could to allow humanitarian aid into civilians in Gaza.

Also, the assessment or the summary of the assessment that the government has published says there have been credible claims of mistreatment of detaunees. The volume and consistency of these allegations suggests at least some instances of mistreatment contrary to international humanitarian law. The decision has been based on that concern about the treatment of detaunees and on the concern about the not enough humanitarian aid getting through into Gaza, not simply based on Israel's conduct in Gaza.

Harry, thank you very much for talking us through that.