Netanyahu won’t agree to deal that ends war in Gaza

TEL AVIV, Israel — The viability of a U.S.-backed proposal to wind down the 8-month-long war in Gaza has been cast into doubt after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would only be willing to agree to a “partial” cease-fire deal that would not end the war.

In an interview broadcast late Sunday on Israeli Channel 14, the Israeli leader said he was “prepared to make a partial deal — this is no secret — that will return to us some of the people,” referring to the roughly 120 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. “But we are committed to continuing the war after a pause, in order to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas. I’m not willing to give up on that.”

Netanyahu’s comments stood in sharp contrast to the outlines of the deal detailed late last month by President Joe Biden, who framed the plan as an Israeli one.

The three-phased plan would bring about the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. But disputes and mistrust persist between Israel and Hamas over how the deal plays out.

Hamas has insisted it will not release the remaining hostages unless there’s a permanent cease-fire and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. When Biden announced the latest proposal, he said it included both.

But Netanyahu says Israel is still committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and ensuring it can never again carry out an Oct. 7-style terrorist assault. A full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, where Hamas’ top leadership and much of its forces are still intact, would almost certainly leave the group in control of the territory and able to rearm.

In the interview, Netanyahu said the current phase of fighting is ending, setting the stage for Israel to send more troops to its northern border to confront the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, in what could open up a new war front. But he said that didn’t mean the war in Gaza was over.

On Monday, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant discussed tensions on the border with Lebanon during his trip to Washington with Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to Biden. He echoed Netanyahu’s comments that the war in Gaza is transitioning to a new phase, which could impact other conflicts, including with Hezbollah.

Israel is close to dismantling the Hamas military brigades in the southern city of Rafah, and maintains “full control” over the Philadelphi Corridor, a strategic buffer zone along Gaza’s border with Egypt, Israel’s military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said. Israel says the corridor is awash with tunnels that Hamas uses to smuggle weapons and other goods. Halevi said Israel’s control over the buffer zone will bring an end to that.

The families of hostages have grown increasingly impatient with Netanyahu. A group representing the families condemned Netanyahu’s remarks, which it viewed as an Israeli rejection of the latest cease-fire proposal.

“This is an abandonment of the 120 hostages and a violation of the state’s moral duty toward its citizens,” it said.

In its Oct. 7 cross-border assault, Hamas-led terrorists killed 1,200 people and took 250 people captive, including women, children and older people. Dozens were freed in a temporary cease-fire deal in late November and of the 120 remaining hostages, Israel says about a third are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory war has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.