Benjamin Netanyahu insists there will be no permanent ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities are destroyed and all hostages released.
The Israeli prime minister’s statement came after U.S. President Joe Biden announced that Israel had presented Hamas with a three-phase plan aimed at achieving a permanent ceasefire.
Hamas has said it views the proposals “positively”.
The talks come as fighting continues in Rafah amid reports of Israeli airstrikes on cities on Egypt’s border with Gaza on Saturday.
Biden has put public pressure on Israel and Hamas to accept the plan, with no guarantee that a deal will be reached.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Saturday that Israel’s “conditions for ending the war have not changed.”
“Destroy Hamas’s military and governance capabilities, release all hostages, and ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,” the statement read.
Israel will “continue to insist on the fulfillment of these conditions” before agreeing to a permanent ceasefire, the statement added, stressing that no agreement can be signed until these conditions are met.
On Friday, Biden described the plan as a sweeping Israeli proposal that paves the way for a permanent ceasefire.
The first phase will include a comprehensive ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from densely populated areas and the exchange of some hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
All remaining hostages, including male soldiers, will then return.
Biden said the final phase would include returning the final remains of all deceased Israeli hostages and developing a “major reconstruction plan” with U.S. and international aid to rebuild homes, schools and hospitals.
A complete end to the conflict is a key requirement for Hamas to participate in the negotiations.
Biden acknowledged that not all Israelis would agree with the plan but urged authorities to resist pressure.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right allies have yet to say anything and are likely to oppose the proposal.
They have previously threatened to withdraw from the coalition, which could lead to the collapse of Netanyahu’s government.
But Yair Lapid, one of Israel’s most influential opposition politicians, has pledged to support a ceasefire if Netanyahu backs it.
In a post on social media, Lapid told the Israeli prime minister that if far-right allies such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezarel Smotrich leave the government, He “has our hostage-trading safety net.”
Israel has stepped up attacks on the main city of Rafah in recent weeks, claiming operational control of the entire border with Egypt.
U.S., Israeli and Egyptian officials will meet in Cairo on Sunday to discuss reopening the Rafah crossing, according to Egyptian media reports.
Israeli forces seized control of Gaza in early May as part of an offensive to control Gaza’s southern border, and aid flows into Gaza have been restricted since the border was closed.
More than 36,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
The war began in October when Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 252 people back to Gaza as hostages.
