Israel categorically rejects any discussion of a ceasefire – as proposed in the three-phase peace plan for Gaza presented by Biden yesterday – before the goals he has set are achieved – i.e. the total destruction of Hamas and the return of all hostages.

In a statement issued today by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office, it is explicitly stated that “the report that Israel will agree to a permanent cease-fire before these conditions are met is a reason not to initiate the implementation of the plan.”

“Israel’s terms for ending the war have not changed: The destruction of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities, the release of all hostages, and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,” the statement clarifies.

What does the plan provide?

In first phase of the project, according to the US president, a full ceasefire will be implemented for six weeks and Israeli troops will be withdrawn from “the residential areas of the Gaza Strip”. The suspension of hostilities will be accompanied by the release of some Israeli hostages, especially women and the sick, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

At second phase a prisoner exchange will take place and all hostages still alive will be released while Israeli forces will withdraw from the entire Palestinian enclave.

The trite phase includes a grand plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip.

The temporary cease-fire could become “permanent” if Hamas “keeps its commitments,” the US president added.

“It is time for this war to end,” the US president said in a speech at the White House in which he presented the road map he said was submitted to Hamas through Qatar, an emirate with a mediating role in the indirect negotiations.