Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an address to the nation on Monday evening following the murder of six Israeli hostages by Hamas terrorists in Rafah last week.
"We are in the midst of an existential war, the first step is unity," began.
"I ask for the forgiveness of the families that we were not able to bring them back alive. We were close but we didn't make it," Netanyahu said. He was on the verge of tears as he read out the names of the six murdered hostages.
"We must be united against a cruel enemy who wants to destroy us all," Netanyahu said.
He vowed that Israel "would not go back to normal" following the execution of the six hostages and that "Hamas will pay a heavy price" for those murders.
Netanyahu stated that Israel must retain control of the Philadelphi Corridor on the border between Gaza and Egypt, saying, "The road to achieving the goals of the war passes through the Philadelphi Corridor."
"They tell me to leave and then we'll come back, I've already been in this movie before. If we leave - we won't come back," the prime minister added.
Netanyahu emphasized that "the axis of evil needs the Philadelphi Corridor. I insist that we will be there. We must establish this fact."
He noted that "only when we entered Philadelphi did we feel a change in the war. For months Hamas did not budge in negotiations for a deal. The first crack came after we entered Rafah and Philadelphi."
He wondered how anyone could call for Israel to abandon the Philadelphi Corridor now "after they killed six of our hostages in cold blood? What message does that send to Hamas?"
"Unfortunately, voices began to be heard from within the cabinet that suggested leaving Philadelphi, so I had to bring this to a decision in the cabinet. I was amazed to hear from among us that we can leave, after the massacre of the six hostages. Every minister must speak his mind. I encourage everyone to speak their mind. But from the moment a decision was made It is binding. The message that we will change a strategic decision under pressure and after the murder of our hostages is an incentive for terrorism and will not happen."