The bodies of six captives were found in a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation military said on Sunday, with US President Joe Biden saying that the body of an Israeli-American captive was among them.

The military said that the bodies were recovered Saturday "from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area" and returned to "Israel" where they were formally identified. They were among 251 taken captive on October 7, 97 of whom remain in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military claim are dead.

Biden said that "Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes" while vowing to keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining captives.

"It's time this war ended," he told reporters in Delaware. "We should end this war."

His Vice President, Kamala Harris, echoed his statement, saying that Hamas "must be eliminated" and cannot be allowed to control the Gaza Strip.

'Netanyahu: enough of the excuses': Captives' families

Following the announcement, the so-called Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the six captives recovered would still be alive if the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reached a deal with Hamas for their release.

"If it weren’t for the saboteurs, the excuses, and the spin," the six captives would have been alive, the Forum posted on X.

"Netanyahu: enough of the excuses. Enough of the spin. Enough of the abandonment," it stressed.

The Forum said the captives' death was the "direct result" of Netanyahu’s "torpedoing" of the ceasefire negotiations and his insistence on the Israeli military's presence in the Philadelphi Corridor in the Gaza Strip.

The group pointed out that, over the past months, eight captives were retrieved alive in military operations, compared to the 105 who were released in November as part of a deal with the Resistance in exchange for Palestinian detainees.

'Shut down the economy tomorrow'

Related News

‘We don’t feel safe’: Hope crushed as ‘Israel’ resumes Gaza killings

Al-Qassam ready to recover Israeli captives, urges int. assistance

"Taking the battle up a notch, the forum appealed to “the heads of the economy, the Histadrut [labor union] and local government" and called on them to “shut down the economy."

“Shut down the economy tomorrow," they demanded as they lamented how "the national leadership abandoned the abductees and this is the time for the social, economic, and local leadership to stand up for the sake of the families of the abductees, the sake of the public, and the sake of the value of solidarity and mutual responsibility."

“The headquarters of the families of the hostages calls on the heads of the economy, the Histadrut, and local government to shut down the economy and the state tomorrow to put pressure on the cabinet and the prime minister to stop the abandonment, to save the living hostages” and recover the bodies of the dead, the group tweeted.

In response to the families' call, the Israel Business Forum, which represents most private-sector workers from "Israel's" 200 largest companies, said it will join the families of Israeli captives to mobilize.

“The forum joins the protest of the headquarters of the families of the hostages and calls on the entire public not to remain indifferent to the abandonment of the abductees when according to the entire security system they could have been saved,” the business forum said in a statement. “Alongside the security chaos, [we are facing] an economic chaos without a reasonable state budget, a strike in the education system, and the collapse of public services.”

“Tonight, there will be an emergency meeting of the forum together with the headquarters and other organizations and more information about the decisions will be released,” the forum added.

Gallant urges security cabinet to reverse Philadelphi Corridor decision

Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant urged the security cabinet to reconvene and reverse its recent decision to maintain Israeli military control along the Philadelphi Corridor as part of any potential ceasefire agreement.

"The security cabinet must convene immediately and reverse the decision made on Thursday," Gallant said on X.

In a security cabinet meeting held Thursday night, eight ministers supported Netanyahu’s stance, while only Gallant opposed it, reflecting the security leadership's position.

In a related context, an Israeli official involved in the ceasefire negotiations told The Times of Israel that the latest retrieval operation underscores that "military pressure without a parallel diplomatic initiative" is leading to the killing of the captives.

The official expressed regret that Netanyahu has prioritized military pressure at the expense of advancing diplomatic efforts, including negotiations for a prisoner exchange deal.

'Government of absolute failure': Gallant

On his part, former war cabinet minister and Knesset member Benny Gantz said the announcement comes as Netanyahu is stalling the negotiations for "political reasons".

He warned that the captives were being killed, settlers in the North were being displaced, and Israeli society was collapsing, calling on the Israelis to take to the streets.

"It is time to replace the government of absolute failure," Gantz added, calling on Netanyahu to immediately call the families of the six captives whose bodies were retrieved.

Israeli media reported that Israeli settlers are protesting, demanding a deal, and have blocked the intersection in the city of Ra'anana, north of Tel Aviv.

Read more: Israeli settlers protest in Tel Aviv for a Gaza captives deal