No permanent cease-fire unless Hamas is destroyed, Israel says

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated there will be no permanent cease-fire in the war against Hamas in Gaza until the country’s conditions are met, which include the destruction of the terrorist group.

Israel is willing to pause hostilities for the purpose of returning hostages but what happens next will be subject to further talks, Netanyahu said in a meeting with parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday, according to his office.

A proposal presented by President Joe Biden on Friday for a permanent cease-fire was only part of the package and there were details he didn’t make public, Netanyahu said.

Israel is working on “countless ways” to bring back hostages held by Hamas since the start of the near eight-month war, the prime minister said in a separate statement. Ensuring their safe passage back from Gaza would be possible while also eliminating the Iran-backed group, he said.

The three-phase peace plan laid out by Biden detailed a six-week truce involving an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, followed by focus on an Israeli withdrawal of troops and a permanent cease-fire.

Netanyahu was quick to push back against the idea he’s on board with that plan over the weekend, saying the destruction of Hamas’s governing and military capabilities remains a non-negotiable target, but one not specifically mentioned in the outlines of the plan released by the White House.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Monday that Israel had shown “a willingness to step forward and do a deal,” and Hamas must now “come to the table.” The group, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union, has said it’s ready “to deal positively and constructively with any proposal” based on an indefinite stop to the conflict.

Meanwhile, Palestinian officials have applied at the top U.N. court for permission to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

The request published Monday alleges that Israel’s ongoing military operation is “part of a systematic effort to wipe Palestinian society and its culture and social institutions from the map.” The request to the International Court of Justice was made on behalf of the “State of Palestine” and signed by Palestinian Authority foreign ministry official Ammar Hijazi.

Biden said Israel has battered Hamas enough to prevent it from carrying out another attack like the one on Oct. 7, when terrorists killed some 1,200 Israelis and took 250 hostages. More than 36,000 Palestinians have died in Israel’s subsequent campaign, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.