Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said on Sunday that progress toward an agreement for a temporary ceasefire and the release of some hostages held in Gaza would require Hamas to soften its demands, while asserting that any agreement would delay but not prevent ultimately an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah.
Speaking to CBS News on its “Face the Nation” show, Netanyahu said, referring to a deal that would bring more hostages home, that “we want it; I want it.” But he reiterated a message he has issued several times recently: that Hamas’ positions in the negotiations were “delusional.”
“If Hamas abandons its delusional claims and can bring them down to earth, then we will have the progress we all want,” he said of a possible agreement, although he declined to discuss the details of the negotiations.
Netanyahu’s comments came as talks between an Israeli delegation and international mediators in Paris were to continue in Qatar this week. Hamas representatives were not in Paris and it was not immediately clear whether they would accept the terms outlined there.
He added that Israel would proceed with a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah whether or not a deal was reached, and said such an operation was essential to eliminating Hamas. Israel would press ahead despite fervent international warnings that a ground invasion would have catastrophic consequences for the more than 1.4 million Palestinians trapped in the area and struggling to survive.
“If we reach an agreement, it will be delayed a little bit,” Netanyahu said of a ground invasion in Rafah. “But it will happen. “If we don’t have an agreement, we will do it anyway.”
He added that he would soon meet with Israeli military leaders to review plans to expel Palestinian civilians from Rafah and move on Hamas battalions there, insisting that Israel was “on the same page as the United States” on the matter.
But President Biden has not yet been briefed on Israel’s plans for Rafah, his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
“We have made it clear that we do not believe that an operation, a major military operation, should be carried out in Rafah unless there is a clear and executable plan to protect civilians, get them to safety and feed, clothe and house them. – and we haven’t seen a plan like that,” Sullivan said.
International aid groups and human rights advocates have repeatedly warned that there is little chance that any plan to remove hundreds of thousands of civilians from the area can be carried out without causing large numbers of deaths.
Sullivan declined to answer whether Biden was willing to withhold weapons from Israel over the issue, saying U.S. officials were waiting to hear more from their Israeli counterparts.