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Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Saturday there would be no permanent ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas’ military and governing capabilities were destroyed.
His comments in a statement published online came after US president Joe Biden said that Israel had proposed a three-phase deal for a ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for Hamas releasing hostages.
“Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: The destruction of Hamas military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,” Mr Netanyahu said.
“Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent ceasefire is put in place. The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter,” he said.
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Taoiseach Simon Harris said the ceasefire proposal was “an opportunity that should not be missed”.
“I have long called for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and unimpeded access for aid into Gaza,” he said on Saturday.
“Now after almost eight months of conflict and suffering, there is a plan on the table that can move us closer to securing those goals and that can help create space to build a just and lasting peace and two-state solution.
“I call on all parties to give the plan presented by President Biden serious and positive consideration. It is long past time for the suffering to end.”
US president Joe Biden laid out on Friday what he described as a three-phase Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza in return for the release of Israeli hostages, saying “it’s time for this war to end” and winning a positive initial reaction from Hamas.
The first phase involves a six-week ceasefire when Israeli forces would withdraw from “all populated areas” of Gaza, some hostages – including the elderly and women – would be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, Palestinian civilians could return to their homes in Gaza and 600 trucks a day would bring humanitarian aid into the devastated enclave.
In this phase, Hamas and Israel would negotiate a permanent ceasefire that Mr Biden said would last “as long has Hamas lives up to its commitments.” If negotiations took more than six weeks, the temporary ceasefire would extend while they continued.
In the second phase, Mr Biden said there would be an exchange for all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza and the permanent ceasefire would begin.
The third phase would include a major reconstruction plan for Gaza and the return of the “final remains” of hostages to their families.
“It’s time for this war to end and for the day after to begin,” said Mr Biden, who is under election-year pressure to stop the Gaza conflict, now in its eighth month.
Hamas, which Mr Biden said received the proposal from Qatar, released a statement reacting positively.
Hamas said it was ready to engage “positively and in a constructive manner” with any proposal based on a permanent ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces, the reconstruction of Gaza, a return of those displaced, and a “genuine” prisoner swap deal if Israel “clearly announces commitment to such deal”.
[ Biden urges Hamas to accept Israeli ceasefire proposal and end war ]
Mr Netanyahu’s office said he had authorised his negotiating team to present the deal, “while insisting that the war will not end until all of its goals are achieved, including the return of all our hostages and the destruction of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities.”
Separately, the Israeli military said its forces have ended operations in north Gaza's Jabilia area after days of intense fighting, while probing further into Rafah in south Gaza to target what they say is the last major Hamas redoubt.
The conflict began on October 7th when gunmen led by the Islamist Palestinian group stormed into southern Israel on motorcycles, paragliders and four-wheel drive vehicles, killing 1200 people and abducting more than 250, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel then invaded the Gaza Strip in what Netanyahu has called an effort to destroy Hamas, the militant Palestinian group that seized control of the area from the Fatah Palestinian faction in a violent struggle in 2007.
Talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar and others to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly stalled, with each side blaming the other for the lack of progress.
In his speech, Mr Biden called on the Israeli leadership to resist pressure from those in Israel who were pushing for the war to go on “indefinitely,” a group he said included some in the Israeli governing coalition.
“They want to occupy Gaza. They want to keep fighting for years and hostages are not a priority for them. Well, I’ve urged leadership in Israel to stand behind this deal, despite whatever pressure comes,” he said.
He implored Israelis not to miss the chance for a ceasefire.
“As the only American president who has ever gone to Israel at a time of war, as someone who just sent the US forces to directly defend Israel when it was attacked by Iran, I ask you to take a step back, think what will happen if this moment is lost,” he said. “We can’t lose this moment.”
The Gaza war has put Biden in a political bind.
On the one hand, he has long been a staunch supporter of Israel and would like to ensure funding and support from the pro-Israel community in the United States in his November 5th election rematch against Republican former president Donald Trump.
[ Gaza: 12 Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike on Rafah as UN warns of famine in enclave ]
On the other, progressive elements of Mr Biden’s Democratic Party have grown increasingly angry at the president for the suffering the conflict has caused civilians in Gaza.
Palestinian health authorities estimate more than 36,280 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel attacked, and the United Nations says over a million people face “catastrophic” levels of hunger as famine takes hold in parts of the enclave.
Signalling a US effort to build support for the proposal, the State Department said US secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke with his Jordanian, Saudi and Turkish counterparts.
Speaking to the Turkish foreign minister, “he emphasised that Hamas should accept the deal and that every country with a relationship with Hamas should press it to do so without delay”, the State Department said.
In a sign of support for Israel despite the partisan divide in the United States, leaders of the Democratic-led US Senate and of the Republican-led House of Representatives on Friday invited Mr Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress.
The week has been dominated by the fallout from an Israeli air strike in Rafah on Sunday that killed 45 Palestinians.
“The Palestinian people have endured sheer hell in this war,” Mr Biden said on Friday. “We all saw the terrible images from the deadly fire in Rafah earlier this week.” – Reuters