Netanyahu says Gaza plan can begin before terms fully agreed, reports suggest

Israeli media quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying on Monday that the first phase of a U.S.-promoted plan to wind down the Gaza war, entailing a limited hostage release by Hamas, could be undertaken without necessary agreement on what follows.

The leaked quotes from a closed-door parliamentary meeting, which were not immediately confirmed by officials, suggested Israel sees a possibility of entering an initial Gaza truce though it has ruled out ending the war as demanded by Hamas.

On Sunday an aide to Netanyahu confirmed that Israel had accepted a framework deal for winding down the Gaza war now being advanced by U.S. President Joe Biden, though he described it as flawed and in need of much more work.

In an interview with the UK's Sunday Times, Ophir Falk, chief foreign policy advisor to Netanyahu, said Biden's proposal was "a deal we agreed to -  it's not a good deal but we dearly want the hostages released, all of them".

"There are a lot of details to be worked out," he said, adding that Israeli conditions, including "the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist organization" have not changed.

Later on Sunday, the U.S. State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken held separate phone calls about the proposal with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Benny Gantz, a centrist minister who joined Netanyahu in an emergency coalition.

In the call with Gantz, Blinken "emphasized that Hamas should take the deal without delay," the department said in a statement.

In a separate statement, the State Department said that in the call with Gallant, Blinken "commended Israel's readiness to conclude a deal" and "underscored that the proposal would advance Israel's long-term security interests, including by enabling the possibility of further integration in the region."

Biden, whose initial lockstep support for Israel's offensive has given way to open censure of the operation's high civilian death toll, on Friday aired what he described as a three-phase plan submitted by the Netanyahu government to end the war.

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The primary sticking point has been Israel's insistence it would discuss only temporary pauses to fighting until Hamas is destroyed. Hamas, which shows no sign of stepping aside, says it will free hostages only under a path to a permanent end to the war.

Netanyahu is under pressure to keep his coalition government intact. Two far-right partners have threatened to bolt in protest at any deal they deem to spare Hamas.

Hamas has provisionally welcomed the Biden initiative, though a senior official from the group, Sami Abu Zuhri, said on Sunday "Hamas is too big to be bypassed or sidelined by Netanyahu or Biden".

The Rafah border crossing critical to aid deliveries into Gaza from Egypt cannot operate again unless Israel relinquishes control and hands it back to Palestinians on the Gaza side, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Monday.

Last month, Israel seized Gaza's entire border with Egypt including the crossing during its offensive against Hamas in the city of Rafah. The crossing also represents the only lifeline to the outside world for the 2.3 million population in the Israeli-besieged territory.

"It is difficult for the Rafah crossing to continue operating without a Palestinian administration," Shoukry told a press conference with his Spanish counterpart in Madrid.

Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said 36,479 Palestinians have been killed and 82,777 injured in the latest figures released, since Israel's military offensive on Gaza began on October 7.

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