An adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israel had accepted a framework agreement to end the Gaza war, proposed by US President Joe Biden, describing it however as imperfect and requiring much more work.

In an interview with the British Sunday Times, quoted by Reuters, Ophir Falk, Netanyahu's chief foreign policy advisor, said that Biden's proposal was “an agreement that we have accepted ... It's not a good agreement, but we very much want the hostages, all the hostages, to be released.”

“There are many details to be worked out,” he added, pointing out that the Israeli conditions, including “the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist organization,” had not changed.

Biden, whose initial support for the Israeli offensive has given way to open criticism of the operation's high civilian death toll, announced on Friday what he described as a three-phase plan put forward by Netanyahu's government to end the war.

Phases

The first phase envisages a truce and the return of certain hostages held by Hamas, after which the parties would negotiate an indefinite cessation of hostilities with a view to a second phase in which the remaining captives would be released, said Biden. This seems to imply that Hamas would continue to play a role in the progressive agreements negotiated by Egypt and Qatar, which could conflict with Israel's determination to resume the campaign to eliminate the Iranian-backed Islamist group.

Biden has welcomed several cease-fire proposals in recent months, each with a framework similar to the one he presented on Friday, all of which have failed. In February, he said Israel had agreed to cease fighting before Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that began on March 10. This truce did not materialize.

The main sticking point was Israel's insistence that it would only discuss temporary pauses in the fighting until Hamas was destroyed. Hamas, which gives no sign of wanting to withdraw, says it will only release the hostages if the war ends permanently. In his speech, Biden said his latest proposal “creates a better ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power.” He did not specify how this would be achieved, and acknowledged that “there are a number of details to be negotiated to move from phase 1 to phase 2.” Falk reiterated Netanyahu's position that “there will be no permanent cease-fire until all our objectives have been achieved.”

Netanyahu is under pressure to keep his coalition government intact. Two far-right ministers have threatened to leave the government in protest against any agreement they believe would spare Hamas. A centrist, ex-general Benny Gantz, wants the agreement to be considered.

Hamas tentatively welcomed Biden's initiative. “Biden's speech contains positive ideas, but we want it to materialize into a comprehensive agreement that meets our demands,” a senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, told the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera on Saturday.

Hamas wants a guaranteed end to the Gaza offensive, the withdrawal of all Israeli forces, free movement for Palestinians and reconstruction aid. Israeli officials have rejected this demand, calling it a return to the situation that prevailed before Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas, bent on Israel's destruction, ruled Gaza. Its militiamen precipitated the war by crossing the border fence with Israel, massacring 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

In the ensuing Israeli assault, which destroyed much of the impoverished, beleaguered coastal enclave, more than 36,000 Palestinians were killed, according to Gaza medical officials. Israel claims that 290 of its soldiers died in the fighting.

This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.