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 Pressure piles on Israel's Netanyahu over Gaza

International and domestic pressure mounted Monday on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as US President Joe Biden said he was not doing enough to secure the release of Gaza hostages, after the killing of six captives.

Britain said it would suspend some arms exports to Israel, citing a "clear risk" they could be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant posted on X that he was "deeply disheartened" by London's decision which he said came "when we mourn 6 hostages who were executed in cold blood by Hamas inside tunnels in Gaza".

At a televised press conference, Netanyahu said he sought forgiveness for failing to save the six.

"I ask for your forgiveness for not bringing them back alive," he said.

"We were close but we didn't succeed. Hamas will pay a very heavy price for this."

"These murderers executed six of our hostages, they shot them in the back of the head," he said, rejecting the idea that Israel should respond with "concessions" in Gaza ceasefire talks.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas's armed wing the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said remaining hostages would return "inside coffins" if Israel maintains its military pressure on Gaza.

A statement said "new instructions" had been given to militants guarding the captives on what to do if Israeli troops approached.

Late on Monday Hamas released a video that showed alive one of the six hostages whose bodies were found by Israeli forces in a Gaza tunnel at the weekend.

In Washington, Biden met US negotiators working alongside Qatar and Egypt to try to secure a truce deal that would free the remaining hostages in Gaza in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.