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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking an “illusory victory” in Gaza that he is “failing to sell to his audience”, Hamas said on Monday. 

The statement, released on its official Telegram account and attributed to Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the group’s political bureau, came in response to a press conference in which Netanyahu blamed the movement for the deaths of six Israeli hostages in Gaza and vowed Israel's war on Gaza would continue. 

“The criminal Netanyahu bears responsibility for the lives and safety of the captives held by the resistance,” al-Rishq said in the statement.

“Despite the movement’s commitment to their safety and good treatment, he continues to insist on killing them and ignoring their conditions,” he added.

Also on Monday night, Netanyahu held a special press conference addressing huge protests calling for the Israeli premier to immediately accept a ceasefire deal that would see all Israeli captives held in Gaza released.

On the same day, US President Joe Biden the Israeli leader for not doing enough to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.

However, Netanyahu remained defiant of the protests and Biden, vowing that Israel’s devastating war on the Palestinian territory would continue, with Tel Aviv unwilling to relinquish control of the strategic Philadelphi corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border.

Standing in front of a wall-sized map of Gaza, complete with crude graphics of bombs coming over the Egyptian border, Netanyahu claimed “Iran’s axis of evil needs the Philadelphi corridor … Israel must control it.”

Al-Rishq responded by saying: “Netanyahu’s statements are the words of a desperate man searching for an illusory victory, which he has failed to sell to his audience even after 11 months of his Nazi-like war against our people in the Gaza Strip.”

“Netanyahu's statements today confirm that he is the one obstructing the prisoner exchange deal and the ceasefire agreement,” he added.

Hamas is demanding a full Israeli withdrawal and lasting ceasefire, but Netanyahu has rejected both.

The deaths of the six Israeli captives in Gaza has enraged Israelis, particularly the families of hostages, prompting major protests and a general strike criticising Netanyahu’s handling of the war and calling for an immediate ceasefire deal.

Netanyahu claims that Hamas killed the six hostages found dead in a tunnel in Gaza on Saturday, while the Palestinian movement said on Monday that Israeli hostages would return “inside coffins” if Israeli’s devasting military assault, which has killed at least 40,786 Palestinians and left most of the enclave uninhabitable, continues.

However, an investigation by ������’s Arabic sister outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed,  at least three of the slain captives were alive as late as Saturday evening and were likely killed in a botched Israeli rescue attempt.