Israel is not ready to consider a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip until its conditions have been met, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said, contrary to earlier reports from the United States.
"The claims that we have agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met are incorrect," Netanyahu stated following a meeting of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden unexpectedly presented details of a draft deal in three phases that Israel had ostensibly agreed to. The first phase foresaw a full and unconditional ceasefire for six weeks along with the withdrawal of Israeli forces from densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip.
A group of hostages held by Hamas would then be released, including women, the aged and the injured. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by the Israelis would be released in return, according to Biden.
The second phase would see a permanent end to the fighting and the release of the remaining hostages, followed by a final phase in which a start would be made to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu responded on Saturday by saying that Israel's conditions for an end to the war had not changed. These included the total destruction of Hamas and the release of all the hostages.
Speaking in a video message on Monday, he said the Israeli government was working in countless ways to secure the return of the hostages and that his thoughts were with them, their families and their suffering.