An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Britain’s Sunday Times that Israel has agreed to a framework for President Joe Biden’s plan to end the war in Gaza, although he said it was “not a good deal.”
A deal is not yet done, and Israel’s official position remains unclear. NBC News has reached out to the Isreali Prime Minister’s Office for clarification.
Biden announced on Friday that Israel had proposed a three-part plan that would eventually lead to a complete ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as well as the release of all hostages held there for the past eight months. It’s “time for this war to end,” Biden said.
On Saturday, Netanyahu appeared to undermine the plan, issuing a statement that called a permanent cease-fire in Gaza a “nonstarter” until the long-standing conditions for ending the war are met, stating that “Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: destroying the military capabilities and the government of Hamas , release all the hostages and ensure that Gaza is no longer a threat to Israel.”
In a British Sunday Times interview, Ophir Falk, chief foreign policy adviser to Netanyahu, confirmed that Israel had not rejected the deal, saying that “the deal we agreed to – it’s not a good deal but we want the hostages to be released. All of them.”
He added that Israel’s situation “has not changed” – free the hostages and destroy Hamas.
Biden’s plan envisions the end of the war, not with the destruction of Hamas, as Israel wants, but with a damaged Hamas “no longer capable” of carrying out large-scale attacks on Israel as the militant group did on October 7. .
“An endless war in pursuit of the unknown idea of total victory will only destroy Israel in Gaza,” Biden said.
Right-wing factions in Netanyahu’s cabinet reacted strongly to the proposal put forward by Biden, exposing the competing domestic pressures Netanyahu faces.
Bezalel Smotrich, finance minister and chairman of the far-right Religious Zionist Party, said in X that he “will not be part of a government that agrees to the proposed outline and ends the war without destroying Hamas.”
Itamar Ben Gvir, national security minister and leader of the far-right Jewish Power Party, called the proposal “a victory for terrorism,” who agreed to the deal would be an “absolute defeat,” and threatened X “to dissolve the government” if Netanyahu agreed to the proposal .
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called the threats from Ben Gvir and Smotrich a “neglect of national security, the hostages and citizens of the north and south.” Lapid had previously promised to support Netyanahu if he accepted a deal on definance from his right-wing coalition partner.
“There is a deal on the table and it must be done. I reminded Netanyahu that he has a security network from us for a hostage deal if Ben Gvir and Smotrich leave the government,” said Lapid in X.
For his part, “Netanyahu couldn’t be more enthusiastic about plans that failed to achieve ‘absolute victory,'” said Laura Blumenfeld, a Middle East analyst at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies in Washington. “Okay, as long as he avoids one word: ‘No.'”
Meanwhile, international pressure continues to grow behind the US as Spain, France, Germany and Belgium support the deal. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Arab leaders on Saturday to reaffirm their commitment to a ceasefire. Qatar, Egypt and the US issued a joint statement supporting the peace plan.
A Hamas spokesman released a statement shortly after the announcement, saying the group “views positively what was included in US President Joe Biden’s speech.”
The first phase of the plan included a six-week comprehensive ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas, and the release of women and children held hostage. The second phase will see the release of all living hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, before major reconstruction in Gaza and the return of the remains of deceased hostages to their families in the final phase.
Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to call on the government to accept a ceasefire. In response to Biden’s statement, the Hostages Family Forum, an Israeli organization that advocates for the release of hostages taken during the October 7 Hamas attack, called on Israeli lawmakers to accept the deal.
“The forum demands the return of all hostages, some for rehabilitation and others for burial, and not to miss the opportunity that exists to bring them home.”
