Pressure is growing on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following US President Joe Biden's proposal for an end to the war in Gaza.
President Isaac Herzog thanked Biden on Sunday for his efforts and said that he had assured Netanyahu and the government of his "full support for a deal that will lead to the release of the hostages."
"We must not forget that according to Jewish tradition, there is no greater commandment than redeeming captives and hostages - especially when it comes to Israeli citizens who the state of Israel was not able to defend," he said in an address at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
"It is our inherent obligation to bring them home within the framework of a deal that preserves the security interests of the state of Israel," he added.
Biden presented details of a draft peace deal that foresees three phases of de-escalation, starting with a complete ceasefire for six weeks and a withdrawal of Israeli forces from densely populated areas in Gaza.
It sets out plans for the release of hostages and prisoners, Israel's withdrawal from the Palestinian territory and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
While Washington said that Israel had endorsed the plan, several far-right members of the Israeli government on Saturday threatened to withdraw from Netanyahu's coalition in case the deal is accepted.
Although Israel has agreed to the proposal for an agreement presented by Biden, many details are still unclear, according to Ophir Falk, foreign policy adviser to Netanyahu.
He told British newspaper The Sunday Times that many details still needed to be clarified, and that Israel is still aiming to destroy the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Meanwhile, an Israeli official told the Times of Israel that in the offer outlined by Biden, Israel reserves the right to resume fighting at any time should Hamas violate the terms of the proposed agreement.
The war was triggered by an unprecedented massacre carried out by Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7. More than 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 taken hostage in Gaza.
Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive, in which 36,400 people have been killed so far, according to the Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza.
Fighting continues in Gaza, and aid organizations have repeatedly warned that there is no safe place in the strip amid Israel's ongoing operations.
The UN's Palestinian aid agency said earlier that all 36 of its shelters in the southern Gaza city of Rafah are "empty" due to Israel's continuing military operation.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) wrote on the social platform X that "thousands of families have been forced to flee."
It said 1.7 million of Gaza's 2.2 million residents are now displaced in the central city of Khan Yunis and surrounding areas. "The humanitarian space continues to shrink," the agency added.
The latest advance by Israeli forces in Rafah has attracted huge international criticism, with aid agencies estimating that around 1 million civilians had taken refuge in the southern city, on the border to Egypt.
The UN's International Court of Justice (ICJ) last week ordered Israel to immediately cease its operations in Rafah, but Netanyahu's government has so far failed to heed the ruling.
Israel says Rafah is the last stronghold of Hamas fighters in Gaza, with some of the remaining Israeli hostages from the October 7 attacks believed to be in the network of tunnels under the city.
