Netanyahu reiterates war objective of ‘elimination of Hamas’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that Israel’s primary objective in its war in Gaza is the “elimination of Hamas,” following President Joe Biden’s public description of the latest ceasefire proposal on the table.

Netanyahu’s public response on Monday suggests an apparent divergence from exactly what Biden laid out, and it underscores the unique nature of a U.S. president publicly announcing an Israeli proposal given the prime minister’s domestic political pressures.

“Therefore, we have gone a long way to return [the hostages] while adhering to the objectives of the war, first and foremost the elimination of Hamas,” Netanyahu said. “We are insistent that we will achieve both. This is part of the outline, not something that I have just added. It is not something that I have added because of coalition pressure. This is something that we agreed on in the War Cabinet unanimously.”

The three-phase plan Biden outlined would mimic previous ceasefire proposals, which would commence with a six-week ceasefire and the return of women, children, and other vulnerable hostages; the release of “hundreds” of Palestinian prisoners; withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated areas of Gaza; and the surging of humanitarian aid into the strip.

The proposal does not include exact details for what phase two will include, many of which will be negotiated during the first phase, though it would include the release of all remaining living Israeli hostages and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza.

“Then phase two: There would be an exchange for the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers; Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza; and as long as Hamas lives up to its commitments, a temporary ceasefire would become, in the words of the the Israeli proposal, ‘the cessation of hostilities permanently,’” Biden said.

Biden’s characterization of the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza seemingly stood in contrast to previous comments made by Netanyahu and other Israeli officials about not agreeing to end the war before destroying Hamas militarily and removing them from power, though there isn’t a clearly defined way to evaluate the success of the former.

“The claims that we have agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met are incorrect,” Netanyahu told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, according to his office.

The administration does not frequently discuss specific details regarding the various ceasefire proposals, though they did for this one.

“We don’t typically go through the details of these kinds of proposals, but in this case, given where we are, given how much longer the hostages have now been held, given the fact that Hamas has reneged on several past occasions on proposals that were sent to them, and given the fact that Israelis really did work hard to come up with this proposal, and did so in good faith, the president felt it was important for the first time to publicly lay that out,” National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said on Monday.

The president also revealed a new U.S. assessment that Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out another Oct. 7 attack due to Israel’s success so far in the war. Hamas killed roughly 1,200 people during the Oct. 7 attack and kidnapped another 250 people.

“At this point, Hamas no longer is capable of carrying out another Oct. 7, which — one of the Israelis’ main objectives in this war and, quite frankly, a righteous one,” Biden said. “I know there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan and will call for the war to continue indefinitely.”

A possible fissure between Biden and Netanyahu is whether ensuring another Oct. 7 doesn’t happen again is enough if it falls short of the complete destruction of the terrorist group.

While the U.S. assesses Hamas can’t carry out that type of attack again, last week, Hamas launched several rockets at Tel Aviv for the first time in months. Israel’s military said eight projectiles crossed into Israel after being launched from Rafah and “a number” were intercepted. Israeli troops destroyed the launcher.

Netanyahu is facing a difficult decision over whether to move forward with this ceasefire proposal if Hamas agrees to the deal. The ultranationalist members of his governing coalition have threatened to leave and collapse the government, which would lead to early elections if Israel goes ahead with the deal as currently constructed.

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Opposition leader Yair Lapid has offered to provide a “safety net” to keep the government in power in order to achieve a ceasefire deal, but doing so would also enable Lapid to force early elections once the deal is implemented, if he chooses.

Netanyahu is facing a looming charge as a war criminal from the International Criminal Court and corruption allegations that predate the war as well.