US President Joe Biden has unveiled a new proposal from Israel to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of hostages.
"We can't lose this moment," Biden said at the White House on Friday.
"Indefinite war in pursuit of an unidentified notion of total victory ... will only bog down Israel in Gaza, draining military, economic and human resources and further Israel's isolation in the world.
"That will not bring hostages home. That will not bring an enduring defeat of Hamas. That will not bring Israel lasting security."
The US president said the new plan envisaged three phases of de-escalation, principally featuring a truce that would become permanent and Israel's withdrawal from the Palestinian territory.
He said that the Israeli proposal - which had been forged with the help of US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators - had already been sent to negotiators with the Islamist group Hamas.
If Hamas really wants a ceasefire, it could prove this by agreeing to "take the deal," the US president added. However, Biden also suggested Hamas would not be in power after any agreement was implemented.
A high-ranking US government official said later that the proposal was set out in detail on four and a half pages and was sent to Hamas on Thursday evening. It is nearly identical to what Hamas itself proposed a few weeks ago, the official said.
The details of the deal
\- The first phase would last six weeks and would include the following: A complete and unrestricted ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all densely populated areas of Gaza. A select group of hostages would be released first - including women, the elderly and the wounded. In return, hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel would be freed. Hamas would also have to return the remains of some of the hostages killed to their families. The aim would be to bring large amounts of humanitarian aid to the coastal area immediately after the start of the ceasefire and to begin the clean-up work.
\- During phase one, Israel and Hamas would negotiate the necessary agreements to reach phase two: a permanent end to the fighting. In this second phase, all remaining living hostages would be released, including male soldiers. And the Israeli military would have to withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip.
\- In phase three, reconstruction would begin in the Gaza Strip - over a period of three to five years, supported by the United States and the international community. In addition, the last remains of killed Israeli hostages would be returned to their families.
The plea to Israel
Biden said he believes Israel could enter into the deal without fearing for its own security.
After several months of war, Hamas is no longer in a position to carry out a terrorist massacre like the one on the Jewish state on October 7, Biden said.
"I know there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan and will call for the war to continue indefinitely," Biden continued.
"Some are even in the governing coalition, and they have made it clear they want to occupy Gaza ... I urge the leadership in Israel to stand behind this deal."
Israel has declared the destruction of Hamas as one of its war aims and has so far refused to end the fighting on the grounds that the goal has not yet been achieved.
Following Biden's remarks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated Israel's war aims. The war will not end until all hostages are returned and the leadership and military capabilities of Hamas are destroyed, according to a statement from his office.
Netanyahu had given his negotiating team the green light to submit a proposal with which these goals could be achieved, it added. It was not clear from the statement whether this referred to the proposal presented by Biden.
In a statement on Friday evening, Hamas welcomed the proposal revealed by Biden.
"The movement affirms its position of readiness to deal positively and constructively with any proposal based on a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, the return of the displaced to all their places of residence, and the completion of a serious prisoner exchange deal if the occupation declares its explicit commitment to that."
Israel advances farther into Rafah
Israel's army is now operating in the centre of Rafah, the military said as it pursued a much-criticized offensive in the Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip.
Israeli troops had discovered rocket launchers, tunnels and Hamas weapons there, the army said on Friday.
Although witnesses had seen Israeli tanks in the centre of the city earlier in the week, there had been no confirmation that ground troops were deployed there until now.
A week ago, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague ordered Israel to end the military operation in Rafah immediately given the dire humanitarian situation there.
Rafah was the last major urban centre to be entered by Israeli forces, nearly eight months after the start of the war.
Withdrawal from Jabalia
Earlier on Friday, Israel's army announced the end of its operation in the town of Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip.
Hundreds of Palestinian fighters are said to have been killed in close combat and airstrikes there.
At least 70 bodies have been found in the Jabalia refugee neighbourhood, the Palestinian coastal civil defence said.
